


Unsaid

by starlore



Series: Rekindled (VAVA/Zero) [1]
Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Enemies Working Together, Gen, M/M, Mentions of Suicide, Post-Rockman X8 | Mega Man X8, Some headcanon, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, flashbacks aplenty, friends to enemies to friends to ???, it's a mess, possible ooc, some violence, there's just a lot of tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:34:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 37,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27357355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlore/pseuds/starlore
Summary: It was like returning to a painting after a long hiatus. Seeing the groundwork for what you had created back then, the strokes of the brush, the blending of the colors, the use of light and shadow.The mistakes you’d made. What you did to try and cover them up, fix them, erase them.Long since abandoned, written off as a disaster, but seeing it again after so many years…The brush still felt the same, the paint still spread. The colors still blended.___After the events of Megaman X8 (hard mode). The lull in activity after Lumine’s defeat is foreboding. Rumors of New Generation Reploids banding together to rise against the humans run rampant through the city. Problem is, no one knows where they’re hiding. The Hunters need a lead, a good one.It just so happens that VAVA has a lead that he’s willing to share, for a price.With little options left, the Hunters take this risky bid, sending Zero alone to accompany VAVA on this mission.What starts as a suspicious reunion ends with more than Zero, or VAVA, could have anticipated.
Relationships: VAVA | Vile/Zero
Series: Rekindled (VAVA/Zero) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1998055
Kudos: 5





	1. i.

**Author's Note:**

> So, as the summary says, this is more or less an "enemies working together" story, peppered with UST and shippy undertones. It admittedly goes off the rails a few times, so apologies for the long and winding road I'll be sending you on.

Peace always seemed ever elusive. After more Maverick riots than they could count, the Maverick Hunters Headquarters was still struggling to keep up, barely able to tread water with all the reports they had to vet before acting. In times of crisis, many humans and Reploids often flooded their communication lines with reports of “Maverick activity” that oftentimes resulted in little more than a malfunctioning street sweeper bot or automated garbage disposal unit. But for every false or overblown report, there was easily another that was legitimate. And after repeated reports of supposed New Generation revolts, the Hunters were growing wary. 

Many of the reports matched up: sightings of New Gens banding together, suspicious gathering, shouting and property damage. But in every incident, the New Gens would leave without much more than disturbing the peace. They would scatter like roaches, as one surveillance Hunter put it, at the first sight of real pushback, and due to their Copy Chips, it was nearly impossible to find them once they fled. It was putting a great deal of stress on the lower ranked Hunters relegated to street patrol, leading to complaints that reached all the way to the top.

Signas was tired. He had been tired for longer than he could remember; everything felt nonstop for years and getting Lumine and Sigma taken care of felt like another false hope. When would everything settle down? He sifted through report after report, weeding out the lot in a pile on his desk. It looked massive, almost impossible to sort through. He rubbed at his face, not even having the energy to spare to look up when someone knocked at his door. He offered a tired, “Come in,” with the visitor trotting inside with nearly audible trepidation. Signas cracked an eye open, looking through parted fingers at the face he didn’t recognize. It was some rookie Hunter, probably administrative, given his appearance. He was standing stark-still, his hand clutched around a portable communicator with a message loaded and paused.

“S-sir!” the Hunter stuttered, looking out of place and uncomfortable. His supervisor must have ordered him to deliver this. Poor sap. Signas knew he was intimidating to look at, but…

“At ease. There’s no need to be so nervous,” Signas said with a tired smile. The Hunter blinked at him before attempting to relax. It didn’t work very well. Ah, at least he tried.

“Y-yes, well… Commander Signas, I was ordered to deliver this message to you. It arrived at our mail facility in Sector Nine this morning.”

Signas straightened up at his desk, nodding to the Reploid. “Let’s see it, then. Did it have a sender marked?” 

The Hunter stepped closer with a nervous shake, giving an equally nervous nod. He handed the communicator to Signas, and in the moment his eyes actually landed on the screen, he knew exactly why this rookie was nervous. It had nothing to do with _him_ at all.

Signas’s docile expression quickly grew fierce and uncomfortable. The Hunter stepped back, using his hands to fiddle with the ends of his sleeves. 

“Have one of the admins summon X and Zero to my office, please,” Signas commanded, his voice a level yet dangerous timbre. The Hunter nodded rapidly, turning on his heel to leave. 

Signas’s eyes lifted as the Hunter reached his doorway, lifting a hand up. The Hunter stopped and looked.

“And shut the door when you leave. I don’t want anyone overhearing this message.”

“Y-yes!”

With that, the door slid shut with a hiss as the hydraulic lock engaged. On the door, a message on the lock terminal stated, in large, bold, red letters: “ **AUTHORIZED RANKS ONLY**.”

* * *

X and Zero received the call while in the medbay. There, Axl remained in intensive care, still injured from his run-in with Lumine a few months ago. X was growing increasingly concerned as Axl was only able to remain fully online for a few hours a day. Whatever Lumine did to him was intense and required a good portion of the staff to monitor him hourly.

Normally, they might have ignored the summons and stayed with Axl a little longer; it had been rare that they got the opportunity to actually have a conversation with him. But the level of the summons was too high to put off. Axl gave them both an understanding smile, urging them to “get out of here before Signas decommissions you both.” With that, the pair made the quick journey to the Commander’s office.

They took note of the raised security on the door when they arrived. Giving each other a look, X placed his hand on the terminal, prompting a credential scan. “It’s rare he does this anymore,” X mused as the automated system combed over his optical signature with an annoyingly bright light. Zero, with his arms crossed and the neutral expression he always wore before difficult missions, gave a grunt of acknowledgement. Finally, the terminal flashed green, allowing X inside. Zero followed suit before trailing behind X into the office where Signas waited.

“X, Zero. Thank you for answering so promptly,” Signas opened with, trying his best to seem somewhat measured. They could tell that something had spooked their commander, at least to some degree where added security was needed. They both nodded, awaiting the debriefing. Signas stood up, a communicator laying atop his cluttered desk.

“As I’m sure you’re both aware, we couldn’t confirm VAVA’s status after the incident on the Orbital Elevator,” Signas began, prompting a startled look from X and an annoyed one from Zero. “We marked him possibly retired, but it was equally likely that he fled back to the surface after your encounter,” he explained. After a brief pause to sigh deeply, Signas picked up the communicator and hit the playback control, lifting the screen for X and Zero to view.

“This is confirmation that we were wrong. He’s alive and well.”

As X and Zero watched the playback, the screen showed a shadowed area, the inside of some kind of warehouse. It was incredibly nondescript, probably for a reason. VAVA, for as impulsive and reckless as he could be, wasn’t stupid. He knew better than to allow for a shot that had identifying characteristics. VAVA himself was seated upon a heap of scrap metal seemingly fashioned into a crude stool or chair. Again, nondescript. His red eyes could be seen flickering from behind his dark visor, and his characteristic laugh cut through the relative silence.

“ _Hey there, Hunters. Miss me? Sure you did._ ” Zero scowled, rolling his eyes. “I hate it when he talks like we give a shit.” X nudged Zero to be quiet.

The recording continued: “ _Anyway, thanks for the fun on the Elevator. Really got my blood pumping. Too bad I couldn’t stay. I’m sure you understand._ ” Zero glanced up at Signas, wordlessly asking with his eyes “is there a point to this?” to which Signas responded with a nod to the communicator.

“ _As I’m sure you’re aware, I’m out of an active employer now. My team is really hurting for Zenny and I know you guys have the funding..._ ” VAVA shifted on the recording, one leg crossing over his lap. “ _And I also know you need help. I’ve got information about that little New Gen uprising. I know you haven’t been getting the best leads, either. How do I know? Well, it’d be no fun revealing all my secrets, right?_ ” VAVA laughed in a way that made X sigh deeply and Zero visibly cringe.

“ _So consider this a job application. A few details of this lead and proof of its legitimacy are in the file attached to this message_ ,” He paused and then gave a laugh, “ _It also contains my terms and payment. You didn’t think I was just giving away the whole thing for free, did you? Hah! But don’t worry. It’s a real steal; you’re not gonna get this type of lead from the old women who call your lines at 2 in the morning_ .” A sneer could be heard in VAVA’s voice, his head tilting back in that cocky way he practically trademarked. “ _Oh, and response instructions are in there, too. Don’t bother trying to decrypt this message to trace it, I’m smarter than that and your little nerds in Security won’t crack through._ ” Signas shook his head. “ _Get back to me in 24. Otherwise, you can consider yourself screwed. Looking forward to your correspondence._ ” The transmission ended with a crackle, and Signas put the communicator back down on the desk.

A silence permeated the room. X and Zero both looked annoyed, but Zero was the first to speak up.

“We’re not actually going for this, right? This is clearly bait.”

X nodded in agreement, “Zero’s right, this is pretty suspect. Why would VAVA reach out to us for… what did he say? Employment? He can’t stand the Hunters… Even if he calls himself a ‘mercenary’ now, he clearly still aligns himself with the Mavericks.”

Signas seemed as though he wanted to be relieved by their reassurance, but it was clear that something else was at hand. He gave a sigh, sitting down at his desk. 

“Normally, I’d be with you both. But you know that if that was the case, I wouldn’t have called you in here.” Signas began typing on his terminal, prompting X and Zero to come around behind the desk to look at the screen. “But this lead isn’t a joke. I cross-referenced our surveillance team’s observations with the data VAVA provided. It matches up, to start, but it also corroborates a lot of other data that we hadn’t been able to confirm. There’s information in here that’s valuable, and this isn’t even the full lead.”

Zero rolled his eyes and sighed loudly. He had no hesitation in voicing his concerns, “All due respect, Commander Signas, but I can’t believe you’re falling for this. How can we even verify that he got this information himself? He could have his own operatives following our teams and stealing data.” X shot Zero a chastising glare, turning to Signas and looking closely at the screen. 

“That might be possible, but VAVA’s team is composed of misfit rebels. I don’t think a single one of them was a former Hunter besides VAVA himself. And I also don’t think that many of them have the finesse to follow our surveillance team without getting caught,” he glanced at Zero again, leveling at him, “they’re not called our ‘surveillance team’ without reason.” Zero clicked his tongue and looked away.

Signas closed his eyes, clearly exhausted. “I understand your misgivings, Zero, but have a little faith. If there was any part of this that stood out as fishy, I would have discarded this entirely.” Signas stood up again, allowing X to view the terminal freely. “You both can have a copy of the file. Review it in full and you’ll see what I mean. He provided a deadline with his price, so get it done in an hour.”

Zero straightened up, a fist clenched tightly as he spoke, “Commander, are you seriously going to dip into our funds and _pay him_? He’s a Maverick! We shouldn’t be paying them for assistance! Don’t you think that’s a little humiliating, having to pay our enemies for help?”

Signas gave Zero a critical look. “I understand that. But I have a plan of my own. Don’t think that I intend to play into his demands and roll over.” Zero grunted and relaxed his posture, crossing his arms over his chest. The slightest of smirks graced his lips as X looked between them.

“That’s what I like to hear.”

* * *

An hour passed and X and Zero were fully briefed on the sampling of intel VAVA provided. Sure enough, it was as legitimate as Signas said it to be. They returned to Signas’s office, eager to hear the details of the plan.

“An hour already? Hah. Well, I’m glad you’re both on board with this,” Signas said with a smile.

X gave a nod, “It’s really strange, but it definitely matches up… But what are you planning to do, Commander?” Zero seemed equally curious, despite his silence.

Signas gave a nod, “Our terms will be 50 down, 50 upon delivery.” Zero balked. 

“Are you serious? I thought you said you weren’t playing into it?”

Signas laughed gruffly, “Let me finish.”

“Those are the terms we’re providing to VAVA. If he’s in such dire straits as to reach out to us for financial assistance, he’ll take it. If he refuses, that’ll only prove suspicious and I think he knows that.” Signas crossed his arms over his chest. “Further, VAVA is not to bring his team and we won’t bring ours. We’re only sending one Hunter.”

X looked as though he was about to speak, but Signas lifted his hand to quiet him. He looked directly at Zero, “You, Zero.”

Both X and Zero were visibly surprised. They exchanged glances before fixing attention on Signas, waiting for more of an explanation. 

“We all know that VAVA has his… grudge against X. It’d be stupid to send him there. It’d be like throwing him to the lion’s den. It might even be what VAVA’s hoping for. So we won’t give it to him. Again, if he denies these terms, then we can safely assume the lead is bogus. If they need the money that badly, he’ll work with it.”

After a bit of silence, Zero shook his head. “Commander, this is stupid. We’d be idiots to take VAVA’s words at face value.” Signas breathed out a chuckle, to which Zero rose a brow. 

“There’s more. We’re going to use this opportunity to gather intel on VAVA himself and hopefully his squad. And, if there’s an opening, I want you to take him down, Zero.”

Zero hesitated. This… sounded a lot more complex than he was anticipating. Though he had no real qualms about cutting VAVA down like the dog he was, there was something about this that gave him some misgivings. He didn’t voice them, however. Whatever he could have said would have made him sound more sympathetic to VAVA than he was or ever would be. Which was to say, not at all.

After that brief moment, Zero nodded, standing straight. “Yessir. I’ll make sure to strike at first chance.”

Signas smiled. “Glad to hear it. We’ll send a response to VAVA now. Get ready and prepped, you’ll be leaving as soon as he responds to the terms.”

X looked on with a wary expression, lips pulled into a tense, thin line. He knew this was an odd situation, one that none of them had ever really dealt with before. But for some reason, all he could feel was a dull uncertainty that filled him with dread.

* * *

Preparing for a “meeting” like this was fairly straightforward, for the most part. Zero just had to do the same things he always did before running Maverick leads: check his systems, run cautionary diagnostics, ensure his weaponry met his expectations. It didn’t take him more than a few moments, sitting around in his quarters idly. 

The rest of the time was spent waiting. X knew that, which was exactly why he decided to swing by and gauge Zero’s state of mind before he left. Try as he might, he couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling he’d gotten from the moment Signas started to formulate that plan. He was probably being overly trepidatious, as he was certain Zero would amusedly point out, but it would put his mind at ease to at least talk it out first.

So, Zero opened the door with little fanfare, giving X a quizzical look as he stepped back to let him inside.

“What’s up? Did you need something?” Zero was as calm and nonchalant as ever, though he did appear a little surprised to see X so soon after that meeting. X, for his part, was fairly focused and a little intense, which tended to be his default state whenever things were bothering him anymore. 

He’d really grown over the years and sometimes it was more obvious than others. X didn’t move to sit anywhere, instead content to stand by the closed door, looking up at Zero with a frown.

“No—” he started, then shook his head rapidly, “I mean, _yes_ , kind of. It’s nothing... that important, but…” X’s lips thinned out as he struggled to find the words that would accurately describe his concerns without appearing overly paranoid. Zero had his arms crossed over his chest, waiting. While he held the most patience for X’s fumbling than anyone else, it was pretty clear that he was at least somewhat anxious to have X get on with it. 

X took in a breath, then started over.

“I’m a bit concerned about this mission… I really wish Signas would have let me take it instead,” he began. It was a bit of a departure from how X usually looked at things; though he’d grown more firm and less hesitant over the years when it came to putting down Mavericks, it was rare that he actually _wanted_ to take an assigned mission from Zero or Axl or anyone else. He knew his strengths, he trusted Signas’s judgment, but for whatever reason, this particular instance had X agitated.

Zero’s brow raised as he actually let that statement sink in for a moment. Why would X want to take this from him? Sure, he probably anticipated that Signas would choose him for frontline, but this was different. Zero shook his head, his long hair swaying behind him.

  
“Why? I thought it was a good call,” Zero raised his hands slightly, shrugging. “He’s right, VAVA has it out for you. You’d get nowhere with him. Not to mention, if this was all a ruse—which it probably is—we’d be giving him just what he wanted: your head on a silver platter.”

X winced slightly at the imagery that brought, his hand clenching against his chest. 

“I… I know,” he breathed out, seemingly defeated. But it was soon clear he had more to say; X straightened up, chin raising, eyes still reflecting a grave concern. Maybe even guilt.

“I know that he wants to kill me. But I still feel like he’s my problem to handle.” Zero blinked, lips parting to interject, but X cut him off swiftly, “I know if it wasn’t for me, maybe he wouldn’t have left. Maybe he’d still be on our side if I had just—”

Zero wouldn’t be cut off this time. He sighed in aggravation and glared down at X for having such a thought in his head.

“Are you crazy? VAVA wasn’t stable to begin with. He would have defected with or without you.”

“That’s not true!” X raised his voice just enough to startle Zero into silence again. “You and him were so much closer before I joined the 17th Unit. I remember!”

Zero flinched. X continued on.

“I knew… even back then. You both worked together so flawlessly. I would see your statistics because Doctor Cain would show me. You and VAVA matched each other almost down to the letter with your performance. Even if VAVA was hard to work with, he got along with you, he listened to you. It wasn’t until I showed up that he started acting out…”

There were memories in Zero’s mind that he had long since shelved. Memories of that period of time that X was referring to, the time before he’d joined the 17th Unit. They weren’t relevant anymore, hadn’t been for years since Sigma organized a revolt the second time, and then a third, then a fourth… After that long, there was hardly any merit to looking back on those days. The person Sigma had been back then no longer existed. Hell, the person _Zero_ had been barely existed anymore, either. The same could be said of anyone else, especially VAVA. There was just nothing left to gain to look back.

So he didn’t know why X was.

“X, why are you worried about this _now_? We’ve tussled with him for years, you should know by now that none of that even matters anymore.”

X sucked in a breath. Zero _was_ right, logically. There’s no reason to even think about how VAVA was back then. There was no changing how the events had transpired. 

But he carried the guilt, anyway.

“I know, but it’s still something I think about every time I see him. I think about ‘what if?’ a lot. What if I hadn’t joined the Hunters at all? Or what if I stuck with being a Navigator? Everyone lied to my face back then and told me that nothing changed by adding me to that unit, but I know that can’t possibly be true. You can’t tell me that you don’t think about it, right? How much different would things have been for the two of you if I hadn’t—”

Zero was at his limit. X rarely brought up his previous relations within the 17th Unit before Doctor Cain had placed him there under Sigma’s suggestion. Prodding at something that Zero had long-since buried and stopped caring about was a line that he didn’t want crossed.

“X, _stop_ ,” Zero’s voice was firm, cold. X’s eyes still looked into his, searching for _something_ that Zero was confident he wouldn’t find: a sliver of regret or sadness for losing a comrade to a rebellion. “VAVA is a Maverick. That’s the end of it. It doesn’t matter what he did or how he and I got along back then. That’s ancient history. You can’t keep blaming yourself for something like that. You need to just accept that he is the way he is.”

X fell silent. He knew at his core that he couldn’t argue with Zero. He was right, after all; VAVA never showed a hint of empathy or regret or remorse for anything he did, not back then and certainly not now. X knew him as the loose cannon, the one who would level an entire city block to deactivate a single Maverick if someone didn’t bother to yank back on his chain and pull him into line. Maybe it was true. Maybe VAVA really _wasn’t_ that different back then compared to now.

But if that was the case, X was certain he wouldn’t have caught that glimpse of discomfort in Zero’s eyes, the crease to his brow when he turned away to return to his diagnostics. 

“I’ll be fine. I’ll take care of him for good this time and we won’t have to waste any more breath on talking about him ever again,” Zero said as coldly as he could muster. X looked on as Zero flicked his sabre on, the green energy crackling in the otherwise silent room.

“Okay… I guess all I can say then is ‘good luck,’” X replied softly, the energy to argue having been all but sapped out of him. He turned to leave and Zero gave a rough chuckle.

“You know I won’t need luck. But seriously though, X—” 

X looked back. Zero was smiling in that subtle way he did.

“Thanks.”

X breathed out a soft chuckle and flashed Zero a simple thumbs-up before leaving him to his preparation. Once the door shut, Zero flicked the sabre off again, holstering it properly. He then moved to sit on the edge of his desk, breathing out a heavy sigh.

The last thing he had wanted that day was to remember what it was like. It was useless to dwell on it. He was honestly a little angry that X had brought it up at all; it was a waste of his time.

He hoped that nothing else would spark any wistful thoughts. He just wanted to get out there and get this over with.

But then, why were his hands clenched so tightly?


	2. ii.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> VAVA and Zero meet up to begin their "mission." Thanks to X's expressed guilt, Zero starts to remember things about his relationship with VAVA. He's not exactly thrilled.

VAVA had responded as predicted. But what hadn’t been anticipated was his willingness to agree to the terms Signas presented. He had expected at least a  _ little  _ resistance to being partnered with Zero instead of X, but VAVA seemed all too eager to take payment. That only confirmed what the Commander had posited during his meeting with Zero and X: VAVA’s mercenary team was in desperate need of funds. Signas tried to ignore the almost dirty feeling he had, transferring over the large sum of Zenny down payment straight into an unmarked and untraced account VAVA possessed. But he told himself that it wouldn’t matter. Even if VAVA managed to use any of the funds for Maverick-adjacent activity, he had confidence that Zero would gather enough information to cut his miserable life down, along with the rest of his team.

With the formalities completed (and no shortage of smug amusement from VAVA himself), VAVA and Zero met at an agreed upon rendezvous point on the outskirts of town. The area was rundown, like most of the surface outside of the main cities, still scarred from Eurasia’s devastating crash. It was surreal being there; Zero couldn’t remember the last time he and VAVA were together on an actual  _ mission _ . It had to have been a few decades at least.

Decades… Time really did fly on by. Standing there with the former Hunter, boots digging into the reddened dirt, Zero could have sworn it had only been a few months since they were last on call together. He almost could hear the last amused quip VAVA had vollied his way, something about the cockeyed shot Zero had made, totally missing his target. VAVA had to assert himself to finishing the job, adding another tally onto his growing count.

VAVA had laughed, Zero had glared at him.

But even then, when the dust settled, VAVA had come alongside Zero and clapped on his shoulder playfully. Zero remembered, he had been on tight watch for months and he had grown on edge quickly, even during those rare times that they were on paired missions together. There wouldn’t have been a lot of time left between then and when VAVA would end up defecting. Maybe a month or so.

Zero’s memory continued. VAVA’s laughter had ebbed away into a chuckle, then a silence fell as they had stood there, alone. VAVA’s hand, Zero still remembered the weight to it even now, had remained steadfast, a prolonged moment of clarity that he had been lacking in recent months. Zero had been silent, he remembered, and almost on edge for the shift in mood. But he had been hopeful. And that hope stung.

VAVA had stood there, almost expectantly. And Zero, he—

“Ugh,” Zero scowled to himself for that bizarre line of intrusive thoughts; X really managed to throw him off with that little outburst of his if he was actually standing around, reminiscing about something that didn’t even matter anymore.

All that mattered was this mission. Get the intel, get anything out of VAVA that he could, then kill him. Simple. 

The outline of Abel City was behind them in the far distance, its rebuilt skyscrapers and the ever-present silhouette of the Jakob Orbital Elevator looming in the center of it all. Zero gave the city one last look before VAVA called out to him, urging him forward. Hopefully the city would rest well after he was finished with this.

* * *

“Heh, this is like the good ol’ days, huh, Pretty Boy?” 

VAVA’s voice cut through the cacophony of the wildlife as they trekked closer and closer to their goal. It was almost like nails on a chalkboard to Zero, who had grown rather accustomed to their mutual silence for the majority of the trip. He’d also had his fill of the memories VAVA was so cheekily referring to. It only made things more complicated than they needed to be.

They had left Abel City and caught a ride on some Chasers VAVA provided. He stated that it’d be easier than transporting, since transporting would only alert the area of their arrival. Made sense.

But Zero had forgotten just how rugged the terrain was. Or rather, how it had become. The target site was actually the area of the jungle where Sting Chameleon’s base had been located and subsequently decommissioned. A name Zero hadn’t heard in quite some time. But without any inhabitants, the jungle had become overgrown and wild, only to wither and rot from lack of resources. 

Most of the flora was a population of hybrid species, created through early tests of the uses of cybernetics. Some rare, sensitive flowers were found to be easily modified and strengthened with the right material, leading to half organic, half mechanical plantlife. The trouble was that they required routine examinations, a special source of food and water. With the jungle completely left to its own machinations, what started to reclaim the land as overgrown and widespread had begun to wear down, leaving browned and yellowed remains still clutching at life.

Reminded him of someone in particular.

Zero glanced at VAVA, though he didn’t respond. He knew that trying to talk with him would only encourage his stupid thoughts and tangents, and the last thing Zero wanted to do was hear more idiotic drivel or to be distracted. But he wouldn’t be so lucky. Apparently his lack of response was taken as an invitation for continued prattling. VAVA made a short burst of a laugh as he pushed some foliage to the side, watching it crumble from the force. 

“Y’know, without X or that other little snot,” Zero assumed he had meant Axl, “it’s almost like it used to be,” he twisted a vine in his hand and yanked, pulling it free and opening up an old, forgotten path. “Don’t you think? I’m sure you get sick of their shit every now and then, right?”

Zero rolled his eyes, catching up to VAVA and standing an arm’s length (or two) away from him. He didn’t want to get baited into this line of discussion. It would go nowhere.

“Shut up and cut to the chase. Where the hell is this base you were talking about?” 

VAVA laughed as he pulled up a map from his personal intel file.

“Admire your candor there, Zero. Alright, fine. It’s this way,” VAVA said with an audible smirk, unwavering in his step as he plunged into the overgrown foliage with all the grace of a semi truck.

Zero breathed out another sigh before following after him. Signas had better pay him extra on his salary for this.


	3. iii.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trudging deeper into the abandoned forest, tensions remain firm between them. But before long, a rogue Mechaniloid gives the two former partners no choice but to work together again.

Thankfully, the trip into the depths of the forest was comparatively silent. VAVA seemed focused, for once, and more interested in their destination than supplying more useless banter that Zero wouldn’t reply to. Zero thought it a bit strange; VAVA was usually loudmouthed and lacked a filter and had no qualms about trying to egg Zero on or annoy him. The fact that he was so focused seemed out of character. 

Asking about it was pointless, though. Zero really didn’t want to know.

After all, there were more interesting things to observe. Like the density of the foliage; each cluster of plants was more desperate to thrive than the last. It wasn’t like Zero to make those types of observations, but without a link-up to Alia or Layer or even X, he was starting to realize how boring this was becoming without anyone to talk to. Maybe if he had a clear-cut mission, knowing exactly what to expect, he could just pour his focus into it. But with this situation, he was blindly following someone else, unknowing of what lay ahead of them. It put him on edge, so a bit of idle talk would work to distract him, so long as he was the one initiating it.

“You’d think they’d have adapted by now. It’s pointless to waste their resources to overgrow themselves, only to wither from lack of nutrients…”

VAVA glanced over his shoulder at Zero, seemingly surprised by the non sequitur. They had been relatively silent for so long, he seemed to expect the trend to continue. Still, he responded easily enough, pushing past a large cluster of hibiscus-like flowers as he advanced, “Well, it’s simple. A lot of the Mavericks that populated this area were given specific tasks to take care of the grounds. Without them around to monitor all this shit, the plants are gonna just slowly kill themselves.”

Zero rose a brow, bending down to avoid a large section of twisted vines and knotted branches. A dry laugh left his lips, carried on an incredulous exhale, “Well, maybe they shouldn’tve turned Maverick, then.”

Rather than respond with a quip in kind, VAVA was eerily silent. Zero narrowed his eyes, then laughed again, just as dry as the last.

“What, I offend you or something?”

As sharp as a thunderclap, VAVA suddenly snapped at Zero, voice far more hushed than he’d expected, “ _ Shut the fuck up _ .  _ We’re being watched _ .” He tapped to his helmet with an index finger, “My sensors are going off.”

Zero stopped in his tracks, eyes narrowing. Being watched..? He quickly looked around, scanning for any abnormal movement and listening for any suspicious sounds. But all he could see were the curtains of faded green, mottled yellow, and dingy brown, peppered with reds and blues and purples of the flowers still managing to survive. And all he could hear was the remnants of insects and birds, chirping and buzzing as if there weren’t two Reploids tearing through their homes. There was nothing there.

“Are you losing it? I don’t see or hear anything.”

As if on cue, a uproarious crash of metal and wood rang through the forest, propelled by a large Mechaniloid bearing down on Zero. The Mechaniloid was serpentlike, with a long body and short, but powerful, legs. Its claws dug into the mix of soft dirt and rotted detritus, powering its body forward to snap its powerful jaws at Zero. 

“Shit!”

With a split-second maneuver, Zero narrowly escaped the Mechaniloid, skidding across the dirt and brandishing his saber in one fluid motion. He hadn’t seen that damn thing until the very last moment! How the hell did that happen? On the other hand, VAVA seemed poised to retaliate, his cannon prepped and aimed, warming up for a series of blasts toward the berserk machine.

Typical.

Zero knew it was coming, but hearing VAVA laugh only served to sear through his pride. His voice somehow had the uncanny characteristic of carrying over even the loud recursive blasts of his cannon, to which Zero inwardly cursed Doctor Cain for programming such an obnoxious voice font.

“Hahahaha! What’s the matter, Zero? You gettin’ too old for this shit?” VAVA cackled as he darted across the dirt, his boosters kicking up an obscene amount of debris as he chased the Mechaniloid further into the forest. It was putting up a pretty good fight, weaving in and out of VAVA’s ballistics; it seemed to be quickly adapting to the delay in his charge.

Zero huffed, immediately dashing after them both, swiping the Mech’s tail end with his saber. It connected, slicing through its artificial flesh with a meaty  _ shunk _ , inciting the Mech to howl in agitation. Zero smirked, kicking off of its swaying tail before going in again for another round. He threw a look over his shoulder at VAVA, his lips parting into a cocky sneer.

“How’s that for ‘too old,’ you sack of scrap?” Zero’s buster hummed as he lobbed a few shots, the sound of them connecting more satisfying than he anticipated. Of course, VAVA had no qualms about returning the favor, using his missiles to carpet bomb the area thoroughly. 

“You better pay attention!” VAVA laughed as he sent another wave the Mechaniloid’s way. Zero weaved with a practiced finesse, utterly synchronized with VAVA’s methods in a way he had long since forgotten.

It was like returning to a painting after a long hiatus. Seeing the groundwork for what you had created back then, the strokes of the brush, the blending of the colors, the use of light and shadow. 

The mistakes you’d made. What you did to try and cover them up, fix them, erase them.

Long since abandoned, written off as a disaster, but seeing it again after so many years…

The brush still felt the same, the paint still spread. The colors still blended.

Zero and VAVA continued their joint assault, effortlessly matching each other’s vigor with blind enthusiasm and raw competitive energy. The Mech wasn’t faring well. VAVA cackled, Zero grinned. The race to claim that final blow was on.

Zero had the advantage of speed over VAVA, and he wasn’t about to play fair. He only took a handful of seconds to look over at VAVA and remark, “Hang tight, I’ll finish it off,” with a cocky grin before speeding forward. Zero could hear VAVA’s frustrated and annoyed shouting, but he didn’t care. The Mech was struggling to stay upright, he could see the exposed wires, hear the whining of joints struggling to hold its impressive weight. All he needed to do was raise his saber and—

“—?!” 

...and nothing. Because before Zero could even blink, the serpentine machine faded from sight, right before his eyes. Straight up disappeared. Zero skidded to a halt, looking around in bewilderment. 

“What the hell… where did it go?”

VAVA stopped in his tracks as well, scanning the area aggressively. Zero took a moment to do the same, but neither of them were picking up a signal. Just like that, it was gone.

Supposedly.

Because even though they couldn’t track it, there was still  _ something _ stalking them. Something was swiping the air around them, knocking Zero to the side and sending VAVA reeling backward from the sudden impact.

With a collective curse, it became obvious what was going on here: camouflage.

VAVA approached Zero in a hurried manner, cannon still smoking from the last volley. He leveled at him, voice tense and words clipped, “Did they ever recover Sting’s body?”

Zero blinked, taken aback by the question, considering how out of the blue it was. “What? What the hell does that have to do with anything?”

VAVA growled and repeated himself, his voice escalating, “Did they recover his body?!”

As if attuned to his frustration and feeding into it, Zero gestured with his arms and shouted back, “This is not really the time to try and guilt me about being a Hunter, VAVA!”

“Just answer me!”

Zero growled, stumbling as a sudden shift in the ground’s stability threw off his gait. He was  _ not _ about to get wasted by a low level machine like this. “Fuck…! No! No, they didn’t bother! What the fuck do you care?!”

VAVA laughed suddenly, almost incredulous in the pitch it reached. Zero stared at him, tightening his grip on his saber. He really didn’t need VAVA to lose his mind right now. He didn’t want to fight the both of them by himself, no matter how cocky he was feeling. 

Thankfully, VAVA’s laughter trailed off and he took to looking around them, focusing in on abnormal movement of the foliage. “With this base abandoned, you’ve seen what the foliage does to survive. It cannibalized itself. If these Mechaniloids were left to their own devices, I bet you any of them would have loved to take resources from as high powered a Reploid as Sting had been.”

Zero gave VAVA an alarmed look as it all fell into place. How simple of an answer. That meant…

“—Shit!”

Before his thoughts could catch up, the Mech reappeared, lunging at Zero with a wailing roar. This time, he couldn’t react quickly enough.

“Gah! Fuck!”

The Mech had its claws tight around Zero, holding him firmly in place. The strength this Mechaniloid displayed was well beyond anything he’d expect from an abandoned forest. Maybe that had been their first mistake. Either way, Zero was pinned, unable to lift his saber or buster to retaliate. Mechaniloids didn’t require food to survive, but in that moment, Zero truly felt like he was being eyed up like a steak by the berserk creature. He twisted his neck back, rocked his shoulders, tried to do anything to gain momentum to break free. He was certain that VAVA was gone by now, cutting his losses, taking the money and running. Zero scowled at that thought, hissing a strained, “ _ Coward _ ,” as the Mechaniloid leaned ever closer…

...But a sharp, piercing sound rang out in the forest, interrupting any further thoughts that had tried to materialize in his head. It was a laser warming up.

The subsequent  _ BANG _ that followed resulted in the Mechaniloid crying out in distress, knocked backward from the force of the blast, enough to release its grip on Zero. Without waiting a moment longer, Zero rolled from its range, following up with several shots from his buster. He looked back and saw VAVA standing there, firmly planted in the ground with his cannon smoking. 

Zero didn’t say anything. Not yet. That Mech was sure to remind him that it was still active by way of howling and standing back up, albeit far shakier than before. 

Nothing needed to be said, anyway. VAVA and Zero resumed their assault, all but destroying the beast in a barrage of plasma and gunpowder. 

But ever the overachiever, VAVA wasn’t done yet.

“Zero,” his voice was firm, the type of cadence that said he wasn’t in the mood to argue, “step back.”

This time around, Zero didn’t put up any fuss. It was obvious what VAVA was going to do as the coils of electricity began to generate from his body, rippling across his armor like sharp, violent waves. The smell of ozone permeated the area as VAVA stalked toward the struggling Mechaniloid, its stolen camouflage processor fighting to siphon power from its host in order to operate. VAVA’s boots clamped to the ground with a thud and, with a shout of effort, concentrated ball lightning erupted from his body, surging and engulfing the Mech in its wake. It was a matter of seconds before the entire processor and its host were fried completely, leaving nothing but a smoking pile of scrap that toppled to the forest floor with a massive thud. 

Birds shot from the rotting canopies. Leaves settled to the dark ground. Everything was silent, aside from VAVA’s shallow breaths and the currents of electricity still rolling over his arms and chest. 

“There,” VAVA said, offering up a breathless laugh, “now nothing will be able to get any use out of that module again.” He turned and looked at Zero, who was looking on with a composed interest. “What’s your damage?”

Zero blinked, touching his arms. “Minor pressure damage in my arm and leg, but nothing—” VAVA interrupted him with a loud sigh, akin to an exasperated groan. Zero’s eyes narrowed.

“No, idiot. I mean why are you staring at me like that?” 

Oh.

Zero faltered, letting his brows knit together in annoyance. Was he staring? He hadn’t noticed… Well, there was no harm in feigning ignorance, right? He crossed his arms at his chest, rolling his eyes for good measure to look sufficiently uncaring. “I’m not staring at you like anything.”

VAVA didn’t seem convinced. After a moment of awkward silence, Zero started back towards the path they had abandoned before being so rudely interrupted. “C’mon, we need to get back on schedule. We’re not paying you for this.”

VAVA clicked his tongue in annoyance, supplying a dismissive, “Yeah, yeah,” as they rerouted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not super great with writing fighting scenes, so apologies if it came off clunky!


	4. iv.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Traveling deeper into the forest, Zero can't help but think back on VAVA's odd behavior during their fight with the Mechaniloid. They share an awkward moment that only makes Zero all the more confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's flashbacks in this section! I tried to make them as seamless as possible.

The rest of the path was fairly standard, but it was getting denser as they went. And VAVA was growing increasingly annoyed by that fact, as his bulkier armor was catching on just about everything they passed. Zero quietly observed this unfolding, making a mental note of how hilarious it was to watch someone as intimidatingly decked out as VAVA nearly tripping over because a few vines were snagging on his cannon. He was certain if his cronies in the mercenary group saw how ridiculous he looked, they might even think twice about taking orders from him.

But rather than take incriminating pictures for evidence and potential profit, Zero simply walked behind VAVA as he struggled to remove another clump of vines from entangling on his weaponry. He was cursing, growling like an ensnared beast too stupid to realize that the more he struggled, the worse it became.

Zero sighed, placing a hand on VAVA’s shoulder. “Stop moving, you moron. Here,” his command was non-negotiable, as Zero didn’t even wait for VAVA’s approval before he started pulling and cutting the vines off of his armor. VAVA, for his part, remained still. 

It was quiet in the forest for that brief moment. Dusk was descending. Birds were turning in for the night while insects began their night shift, filling the void in the humid air with a rising, droning hymn. It was almost peaceful. 

Peaceful enough to make one contemplative. 

“Why did you do that?” Zero asked rather idly as he untangled a particularly strong bit of vine from the hookups to VAVA’s helmet. An attempt at being nonchalant while satiating his curiosity. He had no idea if it would work.

VAVA laughed roughly, supplying only, “Why did I do what?” Well, that answered that question.

But Zero wasn’t dismissing it so easily. Not now. “I’m not playing a game, VAVA. You stopped that Mech from killing me. Why?”

Again, VAVA became deflective, though this time there was a marked annoyance in his voice as he snapped, “What do you mean _why_? Isn’t it obvious?”

Zero paused as he contemplated using one of the vines to strangle VAVA. He was grating on his nerves with this “answering a question with another question” crap. VAVA may have picked up on that, as after a further moment of silence, he relented, shrugging his shoulders and gesturing with his arms.

“It’d be embarrassing to watch you get killed by that stupid thing. You really need to step it up, Pretty Boy.”

_Ugh_. Zero suddenly regretted even bothering to ask. “Don’t call me that,” Zero groused, removing the last bit of foliage from VAVA’s armor. “There, be more careful about where you’re walking. I’m not your personal gardener.”

VAVA laughed, though Zero felt there was an odd lack of humor in the sound.

The insects called to each other, drowning out the rest of his thoughts as they continued forward. 

* * *

Finally, after what seemed like hours, they arrived at a clearing in the path. The area was framed by the bowing trunks of trees, warped scrap metal, and rusted components that were far too degraded to even discern what their original purpose was. What little they could determine was that the area was most likely the 9th Unit’s base of operations. Or what was left of it, anyway. 

Walking through it was like entering a time capsule, except this time capsule wasn’t exactly preserved very well. Zero recognized several old-style communicators, long since rusted over or entwined with the hybrid moss. VAVA kicked a few empty E-Tanks across the ground, the loud clattering of metal to stone alerting some slumbering songbirds and sending them into the night sky. 

And of course, both of them noticed the stains of Reploid blood and component fluid on some surfaces, a grim reminder of the first uprising. Remains of Hunters had long since been consumed by the forest, but their presence could still be felt on the air, like a somber deja vu. Zero felt his stomach twist. These Hunters… probably had no idea such a large-scale revolt was happening until it was too late. 

VAVA, on the other hand, didn’t look too rattled. He was proceeding forward without stopping to reminisce or observe with any sense of sobriety, something that made Zero reflect on how differently they experienced that first riot. 

How differently they operated as Hunters.

Zero continued forward, eyes fixed on VAVA’s back, the spectres of the past rising up around him, whispering into his memories.

* * *

**SEVERAL YEARS EARLIER**

What a mess. The 17th Unit had to deal with yet another escalation from a lower class unit as a result of poor coordination and inexperienced Hunters. Zero had assisted with the support effort, along with VAVA and other members of the Elite 17th. It was supposed to be a routine extermination and containment, but the 2nd Unit lost control early on in the mission. Something simple that the more skilled Hunters could mitigate.

Until VAVA decided to blow up a large section of the city’s main highway off-ramp. 

Zero had screamed at VAVA until he felt the blood in his system start to boil, but all VAVA did was stare at him. Zero was the closest thing to a back-up commander that the 17th Unit had; he reported directly to Sigma and no one else. And despite that, VAVA had disregarded Zero’s directions, opting to act on his own intuition.

It landed VAVA in serious hot water.

Zero had no hand in the punishing stage of discipline; that was all at the Commander’s discretion. Some Commanders were lenient, more willing to compromise if the offending soldier was skilled and useful enough. Problem was, the 17th was the true embodiment of skill, the pride of the Maverick Hunters. Stakes were higher. There was less leniency as expectations were stringent for behavior.

And VAVA had been faltering badly ever since X was placed in the 17th. 

But to Zero, it was part of the procedure. He knew VAVA was valuable despite his independence; their combat styles complimented each other well, better than most any other pair in their unit. Of course he was expected to act in line. Zero hadn’t thought much of it and continued to focus on the ancillary details of clean up and mitigating responsibility. He was considering his next step as he walked down the hallway, headed toward Sigma’s office. Surely Sigma would be able to provide some direction—

“What the HELL were you thinking, VAVA?!”

Ah. Apparently Sigma went ahead and grabbed VAVA off the debriefing floor. Maybe he should come back later… But part of Zero wanted to hear just how badly VAVA was getting it; it brought him vindication knowing that he hadn’t been making a bad decision in reporting the behavior to their Commander.

Zero stood against the wall, listening.

* * *

Sigma was pacing in his office, fists clenched tightly at his sides as he stalked back and forth, working out the anger he held for his subordinate. VAVA sat there in the seat, silent and staring down. Sigma growled loudly and slammed his hand into his desk with a resounding _WHACK_.

“What you did today landed several humans in the hospital! Most of them are in critical condition in the ICU,” he glared down at VAVA with a vitriol often only reserved for Mavericks, “and on top of that, there was exorbitant collateral damage, including your squadmates and their equipment!”

VAVA continued to stare straight down, unmoving. He said nothing. Sigma snarled.

“I DEMAND you explain yourself to me!” Sigma slammed his hand down on the desk again, “What the HELL were you thinking, VAVA?!”

There was a palpable silence. Sigma stared daggers, his violet eyes narrowing and his fist clenching tighter and tighter. Any longer and Sigma would have assumed VAVA shut down, but before he could so much as reach over and shake him, VAVA finally spoke up.

“How many casualties were there?”

Sigma’s expression faltered; he was alarmed by the question, unprepared to answer it. In all honesty, he expected VAVA to provide yet another throwaway line about how he “wouldn’t do it again” and get up to leave. This tactic, if that’s what it was, was interesting, but he wasn’t impressed.

“You’re changing the subject, VAVA,” Sigma's scowl could be heard just as well as it could be seen, pulling his lips down sharply. 

“How many casualties were there?” VAVA repeated, lifting his head up to look at his Commander from behind his visor. 

Sigma quickly realized that they weren’t going to get anywhere until VAVA’s apparent curiosity was satisfied. Giving an exasperated sigh, Sigma looked out to the city below them via the large window that stretched the length of the back wall of the room. His voice was more somber as he spoke, “There were two. A police officer crushed by the mechaniloid and a shopkeep that was hit by ricochet from the mechaniloid.”

VAVA seemed pleased by this response, nodding and affirming, “Before 13:00?” Sigma narrowed his eyes, turning to look at VAVA, then nodded.

VAVA straightened his posture in his seat. “Then neither of those were my fault. They occurred before I cut off the Interstate Exit bridge.”

This clearly wasn’t the way to go. Sigma’s ire was reignited almost instantaneously, resulting in him lunging forward on the desk, both hands rattling the entire piece of furniture, eliciting a startled jerk from VAVA. “That does NOT matter, VAVA! Your actions could have killed far more! Don’t you ever stop to think about what the hell you’re doing?!”

VAVA wasn’t playing nicely now. He stood up and got in Sigma’s face, his voice raised and far more aggressive than it normally was, “That’s just the thing, _Commander_ ! I _was_ thinking about what the hell I was doing! I was _saving lives_ ! Do you know how many people would have ACTUALLY been killed if I listened to those bumblefucks from the 2nd Unit?! They were all wringing their goddamn hands over a _bridge_ !! None of them wanted to route the targetaway from the goddamn bridge because they were too worried about the _mayor_ taking funding away from us! How stupid is that?! They were more concerned over a stupid bridge than they were for our own lives! Of _their_ lives!” 

All the while, Sigma stood and allowed VAVA to shout in his face, his expression slowly fading from enraged to exasperated. While he could understand the logic, it just wasn’t how things were done. He straightened up again, towering over VAVA’s form. But VAVA wasn’t finished.

“If anyone should be punished, it should be those chucklefucks who let a rogue Mechaniloid get that far in the first place! The 17th shouldn’t be called in for some routine garbage that a baby could handle!”

Sigma turned from VAVA, hands clasped behind his back as he looked out the window again, seeing the smoke still billowing from where VAVA had destroyed the ramp’s supports. It was all a mess of rebar and concrete now. 

“You’re still not getting it. It doesn’t matter if humans value a bridge more than our lives or their lives or anyone else’s. It doesn’t matter if the mayor wants minimal damage to property at the cost of our safety,” VAVA bristled silently as Sigma paused, looking over his shoulder at him, “because what matters is that they’re our masters. Reploids are not on equal ground with humans and you _must_ accept that, VAVA, if you don’t want to be demoted or worse.”

VAVA jerked back, his jaw set heavily in place as he listened.

“You keep this up, they could request you to be retired entirely,” Sigma’s expression turned grim, “and none of us would be able to save you.”

The room was filled with a dark, depressing silence. VAVA looked down at the floor again.

Just as Sigma assumed VAVA had nothing more to say, his voice cropped up yet again, this time much more strained.

“If we were meant to be subservient, why were we given free will?”

Sigma could only sigh softly and close his eyes. There was no answer, not one VAVA would be satisfied with.

“Is that all, Commander Sigma?”

“...yes. You’re dismissed, VAVA.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, turned on his heel and stormed out of the room with all the force of a tornado.

* * *

A tornado that nearly knocked Zero over. 

Zero blinked at the sudden exit, watching as VAVA cursed into the empty hallway, reaching over to slam his fist into the adjacent wall. He stood there, seething, and threw a look over his shoulder in Zero’s direction.

Zero felt something knot in his stomach.

* * *

“...ey… you hear what I said?”

Zero blinked, roused from his reminiscence by the tail-end of VAVA’s question that he completely missed. When he reentered the present, VAVA was casting a look over his shoulder at him.

Zero tensed.

“H-huh? What?”

“Hah! You gettin’ tired?” VAVA laughed, waving his hand to and fro in front of Zero’s face. “You need a nap?” 

Rather than retaliate or throw a scathing remark his way, Zero refrained from saying anything at all for a moment. VAVA cocked his head to the side, watching him. “Well?” After another moment of no response, VAVA scoffed and turned around, returning to his trek forward, “Whatever, don’t pass out on me.”

The deluge of memories Zero was starting to process all over again was difficult to parse. Things he had felt back then, when looked through the lens of all that he knew at present, felt regrettable and he didn’t know how to deal with them. Normally, he would simply shove them away, locked into the recesses of his memory sectors. Things he could afford to forget. 

But now, with how this trip was unfolding, Zero was starting to second-guess himself. Second-guess his decisions from over the years.

He didn’t want to give any merit to X’s outburst from before he left the base to come here. But even Zero couldn’t will away the uneasy feeling that permeated his every thought up until then.

“VAVA,” Zero said with a muted inflection, staring down at the soil beneath them as they walked, “do you regret anything?”

VAVA stopped in his tracks, slowly turning around to look at Zero again. Predictably, and perhaps understandably, he sounded utterly thrown and even slightly offended. “Excuse me? What kind of stupid question is that? Are your systems overheating?”

“Do you regret anything?” Zero looked at VAVA directly this time, his eyes focused and full of conviction. He was serious.

VAVA hesitated. Zero could tell he had no idea how to handle that kind of question and he supposed he couldn’t blame him. It _was_ pretty much out of nowhere. 

“I regret not being able to kill X. That’s all,” he finally replied, giving a laugh that echoed into the forest. He leered at Zero, anticipating the reaction he so desperately wanted.

Zero wouldn’t give it to him. Instead, he stood in place, looking up at VAVA with the same somber expression. The wind coiled around them, brushing past and taking with it the hesitation Zero had been enforcing for so long. 

“I regret not saying anything to you that day.”

VAVA’s arrogant sneer quickly dissolved; though Zero couldn’t see it, he knew he struck a nerve. His posture gave everything away. VAVA always seemed to think that hiding his face would in turn hide his emotions, but his body language said it all.

It was a brief moment of clarity, of a shared understanding despite it being so far out of left field. Something that Zero never even entertained the thought of for years, now presented before him like a cruel reminder of what used to be and what could never be again. 

He hated this.

VAVA laughed grimly, the weight of the sound almost laborious to listen to. He took a step closer to Zero, peering into his face.

“You sure you’re not overheating? You’re sayin’ some really loopy shit right now.”

Zero scowled, the sense of normalcy quickly sinking in as the wind continued to circulate, rattling the trees and stripping them of their dying leaves. Zero batted at VAVA’s face, nudging him away.

“You better take me seriously, I don’t have the energy to spare giving a crap about you.”

VAVA laughed again, turning back around to lead them further down the path. Though he carried forward without an indication of dwelling on the bizarre conversation, VAVA too felt the beginnings of a knot constricting in his gut. There was nothing left to do but continue forward.


	5. v.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally making it out of the dense brush, VAVA and Zero come upon the caves, now weathered and impassable.

It turned out that there was only a small stretch of path left before they came upon the caverns that snaked forward into the tail end of the jungle. VAVA and Zero stumbled out of the brush, covered in leaves and pollen, delicately blanketed in the soft light of the moon hanging above. Zero tipped his head back, stretching out as he strode across the patch of barren dirt, looking ahead to the caverns.

“This it?” he asked, gesturing with a jerk of his head toward the mouth of the caves. VAVA was busy brushing the excess leaves off of his body, but he answered readily nonetheless.

“No, this is just a route to cut through toward the base. Most of you Hunters probably wouldn’t bother coming here unprompted,” VAVA remarked, straightening up and brushing past Zero to stand near the edge, “The terrain is rough, even for well-equipped units. And the gaps are way too wide to dash jump across.” VAVA snorted in amusement, jerking a thumb back toward the abyssal darkness in front of them as Zero approached to investigate, “You won’t make it.”

Of course he had to make it another competition. Zero glared up at VAVA and rolled his eyes, but unfortunately, it wasn’t just a colorful attempt at getting his cockles raised. Even with the enhancements to his armor, Zero could not make that jump. He crouched down and peered across the distance, “Fuck, I hate to say it and sound like a quitter, but you’re right,” Zero grimaced, looking as though he had tasted something disgusting, “That feels gross to say.”

VAVA chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. “You giving up that easily?”

“Well what about you?” Zero rose to his feet and pointed at VAVA accusingly, “You’re so overloaded with equipment that you’d drop like a stone if you tried to dash over that gap!” Indeed, VAVA’s armor was fully loaded, weighted down with that signature top-heavy cannon, a rack of missiles, and whatever other hidden peripherals his armor happened to house. He had to weigh the most out of any Reploid of his size thanks to that.

“Hm, good point,” VAVA said thoughtfully. He brought a hand up to the chin of his helmet, looking up to the sky in thought. But as he did so, he slowly started to rise from the ground. Slowly, dramatically, until he was well above Zero, mockingly tapping at his helmet as his jetpack roared behind him. “I sure wonder how I’d be able to get across such a large gap…”

What an asshole. Zero was seriously wondering if there was any benefit to going on this wild goose chase at all at this point. Maybe he could just shove VAVA down to his death...

Unlikely. Even if VAVA was still chuckling to himself as he landed on the ground, he was definitely too alert to fall for that one. “Y’know, I can just carry you across like the princess you are, if you ask me nicely.” 

Zero was not impressed by that offer.

“I got a better idea,” Zero said as he walked to the very edge of the drop, turning to face VAVA again. “Give me a boost.”

It was like he was speaking another language for how confused VAVA seemed by that idea. “What, you mean, you want me to throw you across?”

Zero rubbed at his face. Why did he have to deal with this? “No, you moron. Just give me a boost,” he pointed at the spot in front of him. “Just stand here, I’ll tell you what to do.”

VAVA shrugged, clearly too bored to bother arguing about it. He stood in front of Zero, waiting expectantly for these so-called instructions. Instead, Zero pushed down on VAVA’s shoulders roughly, nudging him to a half-crouch.

“Hey, what the hell’re you doing?” VAVA started to stand upright again, pressing against the pressure of Zero’s hands. But Zero wasn’t budging.

“Just work with me, VAVA!” He shoved back down on VAVA’s shoulder, nudging him backward. “I need you to crouch down and—”

This wasn’t going to work, not with VAVA struggling against the pressure of Zero’s hands. “I’m not some kinda piece of equipment you can drag around!” 

“Will you stop pushing me?! The edge is right there!”

The stalemate wouldn’t last long. As VAVA pushed up again, Zero stumbled backward, the footing crumbling underneath him. “Shit, you idiot!” In a frenetic bid for stability, Zero gripped tightly onto VAVA’s shoulders for some kind of support. If he nudged any further back…

“Stop pulling, I can’t—”

...Of course, one would have had to calculate how top heavy VAVA’s armor was if they expected to garner any success. Zero hadn’t done that.

With a nearly deafening crack of stone and gravel, the last bit of the edge gave way and Zero ended up tipping backward, dragging VAVA down with him, a collective yell rattling through the caverns and out into the night.

“Ah, shit!” Zero cursed as his body sank into freefall. Worse still, VAVA was above him; with that added weight to the impact, Zero was envisioning himself crushed like a can of soda by the time they reached the bottom. 

And boy, was the bottom pretty damn far.

“You fucking  _ idiot _ ! Why did you pull on me like that?!” It seemed as though the argument was going to continue even while the both of them faced certain death. VAVA was shouting down at Zero, clearly resisting the urge to throttle him as they plummeted. 

“If you’d had just  _ listened to me _ —!!”

This was the point at which Zero fully expected VAVA to use his jetpack to escape. And it seemed as though he was trying to, but something was wrong. The jetpack couldn’t pick up leverage from the freefall; VAVA’s armor was too heavy. Figures. Worse still, as far down as it seemed only a second ago, the bottom was quickly approaching. Zero didn’t have any aerial attachments to save himself, and even if he did, VAVA would be pretty useless if he landed face first into a boulder at the bottom of this drop.

Shit.

Zero’s mind raced. What could he do? Maybe he could use his saber to nail into the wall and hang from it? But he doubted that he could hold the both of them up for long. Maybe there would be water below? That might be easier to deal with, right? For the first time in what was likely years, Zero couldn’t think straight. For all his cool and collected demeanor and appearance, this was the straw that broke him.

He didn’t even notice that VAVA had shouted some string of curses at him. He didn’t notice that VAVA had grabbed Zero by the waist, using his weight to roll in midair and switch their positions. He didn’t notice how loudly he screamed until he felt the rawness in his throat. He didn’t notice how fastly they were falling until the bottom came up to meet them, the impact loud and violent and deafening, knocking his entire system out from the shock.

He didn’t notice he had blacked out until he woke up at the bottom of the pit.


	6. vi.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At the bottom of a large crevasse, Zero regains consciousness to find VAVA knocked out after breaking his fall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More flashbacks! Also some "haha oh wow" awkwardness.

Zero’s night vision was rudimentary at best. It was rare that he ever participated in night missions, so rather than waste resources on a module he wouldn’t use, he opted for something basic and practical. In the moment that he awoke, the darkness of the drop devouring any hint of light, he suddenly wished he had sprung for more updated software.

Thankfully, after a moment, the gem in his helmet flickered to life, casting a cool aqua glow around him. Around  _ them _ .

Right, he was on top of something and it wasn’t rock. His thoughts were jumbled, a disarray of charged emotions and clips of an argument before everything aligned itself again. 

VAVA had saved him. Again, without any prompting or, seemingly, anything to gain from it. What kind of bizarre air had they been breathing in? Clearly there was no other explanation for VAVA’s sudden inspired actions than that he’d been poisoned by something or his software was malfunctioning.

Zero stared down at VAVA’s form beneath him, quickly noticing in that moment that there was no sign of activity at all. Those menacing red eyes of his were not illuminated and neither were any of the secondary lighting that peppered his armor. He was unconscious. 

But again, all Zero could ask was “why?” Why had he done this? Again, VAVA put himself in harm’s way, extended protection and assistance to someone he hated. Or at least, Zero had  _ assumed  _ their hate was mutual. There was no reason to believe otherwise, especially considering how eager VAVA was to fight him whenever they crossed paths. So it became exceedingly difficult to believe that there was any modicum of good will left in VAVA’s systems for anyone at all, let alone a Hunter, especially not after learning how deeply the error in his cortex programming ran. 

Zero was certain that VAVA was incapable of any kind of empathy. And yet here they were.

Enough speculation, though. Even if VAVA had some kind of ulterior motive, Zero wasn’t selfish enough to not return at least some of the favor at face value. That started with checking VAVA’s systems as best he could with what little he knew about his systems in the first place. Breathing seemed to be functional, but nudging VAVA around produced no reaction. Zero shoved at his chest, his shoulders, before moving up to his head...

...And promptly stopping as he realized the mechanism on VAVA’s helmet had been released, likely from the impact. The helmet was loose, a glimpse of a sharp, pale jawbone visible from under the misaligned headpiece. VAVA’s face, just within reach, something few people ever had the chance to witness.

He was still unconscious… But Zero had to check to make sure his skull was all intact, right? There wasn’t any better excuse than that, though Zero was still struggling to accept that from himself as reason enough to do this.

With those flimsy justifications cataloged in his mind, Zero reached forward, permitting an uncontrollable curiosity to power his arms and hands…

It had been so long since he’d seen it.

* * *

**SEVERAL YEARS EARLIER**

Zero had gathered instructions from Sigma for how to go about organizing a clean-up effort. Since Sigma was bogged down with the PR disaster that was VAVA’s stupid little stunt a few days prior, Zero had to assume the role of Commander for a little bit. Nothing huge, just working with the Commander of the 2nd Unit to get some kind of relief going for the damage. The 2nd Unit was pretty adamantly against assisting; the Commander had this way about her, kind and understanding, but with a surprisingly dangerous conviction that could inspire even Sigma to back down. Zero was now tasked with convincing her to supply parts of her unit to assist with a mess they were already washing their hands of.

Maybe VAVA had been right; this unit really needed a kick in the ass.

After hitting a brick wall talking to the 2nd Unit Commander, Zero needed to blow off some steam. This was going to be a long process and he needed a level head through it all. So a little bit of training would help clear his mind, give him something to focus on.

He was brisk in his pace, not wanting to get stopped by anyone before he could log into the range, set up his meticulous training preferences, and get started. Brisk enough that he couldn’t stop himself from ramming right into someone exiting the room as he was entering it. They collided roughly, a  _ CLANG _ echoing off the smooth walls around them, ringing in Zero’s ears. A clattering sound soon followed, like someone having dropped a heavy helmet onto the floor. Great. He practically knocked this guy’s head off by not paying attention.

“Shit, I’m sorry—” Zero shook his head, looking up to the Hunter he had run into. At first, he didn’t recognize them at all. Granted, that didn’t mean anything; Zero wasn’t any expert at remembering faces, especially not of any soldiers he didn’t work with directly on a daily basis. This guy had a sharp cut of jaw, paler skin that he was used to seeing, short dark hair with a violet sheen that was only visible from the lights overhead blaring down on them. Nice to look at, if a bit … aggressive looking.

Maybe it was the sharp, venomous gaze he was getting from them, complete with glowing red irises—

Wait.

“You fucking  _ asshole _ !” 

That voice confirmed it. That was VAVA.

Wait,  _ VAVA _ ?! Now that Zero thought about it, he couldn’t recall ever seeing his face before. In fact, he hadn’t been certain that there  _ was _ a face under there. Stupid to think that way, really.

Zero must’ve looked alarmed as VAVA’s expression only soured further, a precursor to the way he shoved Zero away with an unshackled level of strength, causing him to stumble and nearly topple over. “H-hey!!”

VAVA said nothing, quickly scrambling to swipe his helmet off of the floor and hurriedly shove it back on over his face. The helmet clicked into place loudly. VAVA hadn’t stopped glaring.

Zero couldn’t help it. He knew it was a bad move the moment the sound left his lips, but there was no stopping the sharp series of chuckles that filled the relative silence. He was incredulous to the existence of VAVA’s face as much as he was amused by the hurried frenzy and almost panic he displayed in recovering the helmet. 

And indeed, it was a bad move. VAVA’s eyes, glowing aggressively from beneath the darkness of the visor, reached over and grabbed Zero, slamming him against a nearby wall. Zero’s eyes widened; this was the first time VAVA actually lashed out like this to him. He actually didn’t know what to expect or what to do.

He didn’t need to do anything. VAVA’s voice was steeled and dangerous, far more serious than Zero could ever recall hearing it, not even when he’d eavesdropped on that disciplinary session between him and Sigma.

“Don’t you _ ever _ tell a goddamn soul what you saw. If you do, I’ll  _ rip your hair from your scalp and strangle you with it _ .”

Zero stared back, stunned. Not out of any actual fear or intimidation, but shock that VAVA was talking like this to him at all. That seeing his face was this big of a deal to him to actually make him retaliate so disproportionally. That… maybe some of those rumors about him lacking a handle on his emotions were true. 

Zero didn’t want to believe it, but it was hard to ignore the tension in his shoulders from the excessive force VAVA was exerting. 

VAVA didn’t say anything else, apparently satisfied with his warning enough to give one final parting shove before he stormed down the hallway. Zero rubbed at his shoulders, rolling his arm around to loosen up the tension. He started back toward the training room, looking over his shoulder at VAVA as he disappeared into the base.

* * *

It was so close. Zero’s hands were almost behaving as though they were on rails, rigid and focused as he gingerly started to pull the loosened helmet upward… A peek further of that pale skin, the curve of his throat normally obscured by his undersuit, a small bit of hair that tickled at his cheek...

Zero was so focused, in fact, that he was visibly startled when a deep inhale practically roared in the silent cavern. VAVA’s secondary lights flickered to life and nearly blinded Zero with their intensity.

And not a second more passed before VAVA’s hands shot up, grasping Zero’s wrists firmly. Those red eyes were glowing again, and he was focused solely onto Zero.

Uh oh.

“What… the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Zero blinked, knowing that if he didn’t say something, he’d look all the more suspicious. Time to use that flimsy excuse he cooked up a few minutes prior. 

But first: “Let go,” Zero growled as he yanked his arms back from VAVA’s grip, rubbing at his wrists once they were freed, “I just wanted to make sure your skull was caved in and you were dead before I left your carcass here to languish away.”

VAVA was quiet and Zero knew this particular lapse in response to mean he was judging him. Zero felt his throat tighten. It was definitely a flimsy excuse if anyone stopped to think about it for more than a second; it wasn't too difficult to do a quick scan to determine his status. Taking the helmet off really wouldn’t prove anything further. 

The silence was definitely bearing down on Zero, more than he anticipated it to. He wasn’t the type to fluster easily, but there was no reality in which he could convince VAVA of anything virtuous on his end. There was a prolonged moment where Zero was merely sitting there, hands hovering over VAVA’s breastplate while VAVA’s eyes gleamed under the misaligned helmet. For the first time in forever, Zero felt an uncomfortable flip rattle his stomach, something that wasn’t so much fear or anger, but something else... 

But thankfully, the silence ended. VAVA scoffed and sat upright to fully resecure his helmet in place. With the hinges hissing closed, VAVA took a moment to look at Zero, unimpressed. Reclining back on one elbow, he idly remarked, “You comfortable on your throne, Princess?”

Oh. Right. Zero was still kind of sitting on top of VAVA. That was a bit awkward. Zero looked down between them, greatly thankful that there was no one else around to see how uncouthly he was propped up, legs splayed on either side of VAVA’s hips. 

_ Very _ awkward.

“...Shut up,” trying to sound offended by something like this was a losing battle, so Zero wasn’t going to even try. He fumbled to stand up and once he was on his feet, he moved away from VAVA, giving him adequate space. Zero was soon cringing to himself as VAVA’s stupid laugh rang in his ears yet again, effortlessly stinging at his already bruised pride. This was probably the closest to embarrassed Zero had felt in years and he didn’t really enjoy the experience.

VAVA was up off the floor not long after that, and Zero took a chance to look at him again. He was scraped up a little, but nothing horrible. Maybe there was merit to wearing something that bulky after all. It  _ did _ prevent Zero from incurring much more damage…

Whatever. Now was as good a time as ever to quickly change the subject, lest VAVA come up with some kind of smart-ass remark designed to humiliate Zero further.

“There’s no lighting down here,” Zero remarked as he swiped at his legs, brushing away any remnants of dirt or rubble that settled there. “I’m guessing this is gonna be a dead end.”

Thankfully, VAVA appeared to be just fine with moving on. 

“Yeah, I’m thinkin’ so, too,” VAVA responded in agreement, and for once, Zero wasn’t totally thrown by it. After all, it was pretty clear to anyone with eyes that there wasn’t really any activity going on. As Zero looked around, VAVA took to pressing his hands against the wall in front of him, feeling around for anything, a point of purchase or a way to tunnel forward.

“Y’know, I may have to carry you out of here after all,” he said, looking over his shoulder at Zero. He could hear the grin on his voice.

Of course, that wasn’t an offer Zero was going to take him up on any time soon. “Keep dreaming. I can just wall jump out of here.”

“Be my guest. You’d be jumping for a long time, though,” VAVA said, continuing his idle examination of the walls around them.

Zero tilted his head back, looking straight up into the hole from which they’d dropped. It was so dark and so far up that the light from his helmet was quickly engulfed like it was nothing. It only drove the point harder. 

Damn.

What kind of damage would he have incurred if he had fallen by himself? He doubted that he’d have been able to survive. Even if he was pretty damn strong, most any other Reploid of his body and armor class would have likely died. As much as they liked to think they were invincible, all it really took was one missed step and that was it.

Zero looked back over at VAVA, who had migrated to another side of the wall. Zero could assume he was trying to find any indication of something more behind it, but he was skeptical. A lot of this trip was making him skeptical, but not for the reasons he had first anticipated.

VAVA was… acting odd. Had been from the very start. If this lead had ended up being bogus, Zero wouldn’t have hesitated in skewering with his saber him like a piece of meat. There was still a lot of animosity there, he could feel it in the tension that constricted the air they shared. But the longer this trip dragged on, the less VAVA seemed to be contributing directly to anything that indicated that same level of unhinged madness he’d displayed in the past. In fact, compared to when VAVA had gotten infected in Doppler Town, he was downright docile.

This was too weird. Zero had a hard time trusting people, especially after all the betrayals he’d endured over the years, but he knew that his skepticism was justified. Anyone else would have thought this was a huge red flag.

Zero wanted to tear that flag down from the staff, rip it apart. He wasn’t delicate about it and went straight to the point.

“Why did you come to us with this intel?”

VAVA, who had been tapping at a portion of the stone in front of him, didn’t turn to look at Zero as he spoke, “You sure are asking me a lot of questions  _ after _ accepting the offer. Most clients ask the questions  _ before _ signing off on the work.” 

He sounded annoyed. Maybe he was right to be. But Zero didn’t care about that. This was more important and VAVA could surely endure a bit of annoyance to humor him.

“Just tell me.”

Zero could practically feel the energy of VAVA’s rolling eyes, the strength of that exhale driving it home. 

“We need the Zenny. We’re strapped for cash to continue operating,” he stopped there, pressing his palm to the cool rock of the wall. “The Hunters need this type of lead, you guys paid us, it’s as simple as that. Mutually beneficial.”

Zero hesitated. VAVA looked over his shoulder, red eyes glinting in the darkness. “What? Do you not trust me?”

Now  _ that _ was the funniest thing he’d heard all day. Zero couldn’t help but laugh sharply, pressing a hand to his hip as he regarded VAVA with a look that clearly showed how incredulous he was.

“You’re kidding, right? It’s kind of hard to trust someone who’s tried to kill me and my best friend on more than one occasion.”

VAVA’s eyes narrowed and he turned back to the wall with an annoyed grunt. Zero shook his head.

…But then it dawned on him. Maybe VAVA was trying to gain his trust for some reason or another that he was keeping to himself? Helping him, saving him, all of those things he’d done without any real reason for it. What else would VAVA gain from that if not to attempt to lull Zero into a false sense of security?

Zero’s arms crossed over his chest as he ruminated on this. He figured they’d have time to spare, given how limited their options were. 

But today was apparently his lucky day. A sharp  _ click _ roused Zero from his thoughts and he glanced VAVA’s way. Looked like he found something after all.

VAVA’s hand brushed away some debris, revealing some smooth metal buried beneath the stone. He chuckled softly, sarcastically, not bothering to lift his head from his discovery as he spoke again.

“For the record, I don’t really trust you, either.”

While not exactly surprising out of context, given everything else that had happened today, Zero wasn’t sure how truthful that admission actually was. He stepped closer, partially to get a better look at what VAVA found, but mostly to try and discern what he was playing at. 

While he was at it, he might as well add another question to the long list he’d already asked today. 

“If you don’t trust me, why did you break my fall?”

That particular inquiry hung in the air heavily. Burdensome and dragged down by the bevy of implications, Zero expected another non-answer, shirking responsibility for carrying his end of the lot.

It was a struggle, there was no denying that, but VAVA managed to lift his head and glance over at Zero for a brief, transient moment. He turned to stare at the stone and metal he had dismantled, jaw tight. The response he provided did little to assuage Zero’s curiosity, only fueling more perplexity in the chain of events that brought them to this point:

“I don’t know.”


	7. vii.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finding a hidden panel in the crevasse, VAVA and Zero continue their exploration.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick content warning: mentions of suicide in this chapter.

The panel VAVA had uncovered revealed that there was more activity down in these depths than either of them had initially anticipated. With a bit of rooting around, VAVA managed to disengage the door and reveal what may have passed for a mine shaft at some point in the distant past. With nowhere else to go, the two of them decided to enter, steps cautious and careful as the metal-plated door shut behind them.

VAVA pulled ahead, but his pace was slow by comparison. Zero heard him mutter under his breath, “ _ This wasn’t on the intel _ …” before pulling up his utility program and paging through something Zero couldn’t see. 

It didn’t exactly instill confidence in Zero, but there was nothing to do now but proceed. 

This time around, there was some actual lighting to go by. Extremely dim, worn-out lighting, but it was still better than relying on night vision and their armor’s backup lights. Zero could feel his eyes readjusting, an annoying twinge in his head that dissipated quickly. Once the details of the path started to materialize, Zero noticed something odd.

“This metal looks new, don’t you think? It’s not all rusted over like the equipment in the abandoned base back there.”

VAVA hummed in thought, giving a short nod. 

“I thought so too. It kind of looks like the composite material that a lot of New Gens like to use in their facilities. Something about it being resistant to rust and warping…”

New Gens seemed to prefer a lot of things like that. Zero chalked it up to a higher standard due to how many privileges they enjoyed. Kind of annoying, really, but ultimately harmless. If they wanted higher quality material, let them. 

Though speaking of, that reminded Zero of a little detail that most of them tended to overlook.

“You’re in a New Gen body now, aren’t you? How does that compare?”

VAVA hummed, looking down at his arm and hand as he walked. He flexed his fingers, making a fist, and relaxed them again. “Well, it’s nice to be free of viruses, at the very least. None of that bloat bogging me down.”

“Haha,” Zero chuckled, stretching his arms up over his head. “That must be nice.”

VAVA kept his pace, but his attention remained on Zero, keeping up the line of conversation with a question that would likely either spark some interesting discussion or a complete shutdown. 

“What about you? Does the virus still interfere with your functions?”

There was a weighted silence, but one far less tense. Mostly filled with uncertainty. That was a pretty personal question, Zero thought, but he supposed that he’d been drilling VAVA with questions all day, anyway. Whatever.

“Not really. It hasn’t really been an issue for a while.”

A low hum of air circulating in the caverns above filled the drop off in the conversation, their boots clicking against stone and metal. VAVA looked away, seemingly looking out for what lay ahead for them. Zero sighed. 

Maybe a discussion was too much to expect from either of them right now.

Zero lifted his gaze, catching sight of something in the distance. VAVA seemed to notice it, too, if the shift in his posture was any indication.

“Looks like something’s lit up down there,” Zero murmured as his hand hovered over the hilt of his saber. VAVA nodded, “Doesn’t seem to be coming from a fixture, either.”

With that determined, the pair picked up the pace, trotting up towards the source of the illumination. The closer they reached, Zero could make out the outline of a body. He breathed out tensely, reaching for his saber as they descended upon the unknown person.

The lights started to flicker as they approached, to which Zero held his arm out, stopping VAVA from proceeding. He gave him a sidelong glance, lips taut, “I’m taking point. Stay here and watch my six.”

“What?” VAVA sounded both offended and dubious as he straightened his posture. “Are you serious? What if it’s—”

“VAVA,” Zero’s voice cut into him and he turned, pressing his palm against VAVA’s chest, to which he was met with a startled grunt. Zero leveled with him, the crackle of his saber echoing off of the walls. He figured now was the perfect time to get a little bit of payback for all the teasing and mocking he’d had to endure from him all day long.

“Stop trying to impress me. It’s starting to get annoying.”

VAVA jerked back from the accusation, “Wh— I’m  _ not _ —” But before he could gain traction with any kind of argument, Zero was darting ahead, sword drawn. VAVA stared after him, scowling as he began to follow at a distance. 

“Get it together,” he growled at himself, dragging the barrel of his cannon down into scope.

* * *

The body was pretty standard for a Reploid, at least on first glance. But as Zero looked it over, he was pretty certain that this unknown person was a New Gen. Further, he couldn’t tell what faction, if any, they belonged to. Zero kept his saber withdrawn, but lowered it, the tip burning idly against the soft, barely touched dirt. A distant rumble sent minute vibrations through the stone, shifting pebbles and sending them clattering against metal. The sound drew Zero’s attention. The body didn’t react.

Zero’s eyes narrowed, turning his head back to the unknown Reploid, watching as the meager lighting of this Reploid’s armor flickered, fighting to stay online. He wasn’t generating enough power and Zero knew it meant he’d be dead soon. He reached forward, pressing his palm against the Reploid’s shoulder, gently urging it to turn over—

The lights surged, the Reploid’s eyes opening wide and unfocused. Amber irises flicked to Zero with an unnatural speed, and a sudden impulse powered the formerly limp body forward. Zero jerked backward, but the Reploid managed to hook its fingers into Zero’s chestplate. 

He wasn’t taking this lightly. Zero had enough of being taken by surprise. With an annoyed sound he rose his saber up to sever the arm, right as VAVA trotted up behind. The electric crackle of plasma and the heat of melting composite material filled the air with an unpleasant miasma. But more unpleasant than that was the Reploid’s lack of reaction. It simply slumped back onto the ground, staring at Zero.

Its voice was cracked, fading, like an old radio tuned between stations. 

“He said... he’ll take us all home.”

With that garbled sentence, the lights on the armor flickered rapidly before fading entirely, a dull hum of artificial light until the prevailing darkness sank back down around them. A curtain closing. The Reploid was dead.

For once, neither of them had anything to say, aside from VAVA’s rather hoarsely uttered, “What the fuck?”

* * *

Even though the both of them had experienced the unpleasant scenario of watching someone die, there was something especially disturbing about what they had just encountered. The Reploid, still unidentified, seemed nearly possessed by something, almost like his systems were being controlled by an ancillary force. It couldn’t have been a virus, though, since VAVA had confirmed that the body was a New Gen variant. Or at least, that was what Zero was running with at the moment. Truthfully, he had limited knowledge of all the intricacies of New Generation Reploids and what their systems were like. He had Axl to go off of, but even he wasn’t as reliable a source of information, given that he was a prototype himself. 

Perhaps more disconcerting was the last words that Reploid uttered before its last spark of life was snuffed out. 

Zero didn’t think much of it, not now. It could have meant anything; the guy was losing it, in more ways than one. He couldn’t have been actually thinking anything coherent, and he certainly hadn’t been processing pain at that point, since the severing of his arm barely elicited a reaction at all. Zero felt it more than he did, most likely.

Whatever the case may have been, what was important now was that they were making some kind of progress, finally. Zero had begun to wonder if this “lead” VAVA had was actually as legitimate as it seemed, up until they reached the end of the hallway. 

Another large metal door, too new to be anything related to the abandoned stations the forest had reclaimed in the passing years. There was a terminal, still active and flickering, idle on an authorization screen. Zero slid his saber into its holster and started to tap through the screens.

“Keep an eye out,” he directed at VAVA, to which VAVA replied with an annoyed mutter of, “I’ve got shit else to do…” It was true, since there was only one path and no other branches or forks. Guard duty it was.

The cavern was quickly filled with the soft beeps and notes the terminal produced as Zero poked around, the tight quarters making it sound more like a cacophony to VAVA’s ears. Zero didn’t seem to mind, which only made VAVA all the more annoyed.

“Can’t you hurry it up? I can just blow the door down—”

“I’m almost done, the security on this thing is surprisingly rudimentary.”

VAVA fell silent. He didn’t like the implications of lax security. But rather than dwell on that potentially concerning tidbit, he turned everything back around to focus on Zero: “No wonder you’re having no issues getting in, then.”

Zero rolled his eyes. There was no point in arguing that, since it was kind of… true. Zero was hardly any kind of security expert. He only knew bits and pieces from talking with people like Douglas and other engineers. Thankfully he retained all that knowledge as it helped him push through, getting the door open with a satisfying grind of metal to dirt.

When the next room was revealed to them, VAVA and Zero had to take a moment to let their eyes adjust once more. This room was definitely more utilized, as it had a good share of lights blaring down at them. But that was about the only thing that gave any hint of use, since the rest of the room was fairly barren. As they looked around, each took a side without a word, checking for any hidden threats. Synchronized in their investigation, they were quickly coming to the conclusion that they were alone.

Not that there were many places to hide. The room looked like a sort of garage, complete with workbenches and terminals. The middle of the room was wide open, aside from a single metal slab used as a worktable. Everything else seemed relegated to the walls. No one was here, just as they suspected, but  _ someone  _ had to have been mulling around in there not long before VAVA and Zero arrived.

Zero breathed out, glancing VAVA’s way. He looked… wary. More critical. He was tapping through his utility program, frustrated in how he swiped across the projected screen. “Damnit…”

Zero rarely had the chance to see this side of VAVA. Even back when he was a Hunter, VAVA seldom revealed any indication that he could even feel cautious or uncertain. He always seemed to plow through every situation with confidence and a devil-may-care aura, content to let other Hunters pick up that slack and do all the worrying for him.

It was as interesting as it was confusing to witness. 

“What is it?” Zero tried to get a look on what VAVA was reading through, but he was flipping through it too quickly. Another moment of irritated growls and VAVA closed out of the utility program.

“This isn’t in my intel. I have no idea what this place is,” his voice was thin, tight, like he didn’t want to admit to it. Zero could understand that sentiment; he’d hung this intel above the Maverick Hunters like a succulent carrot on a string, knowing just how starved they were for information on this new uprising. If that carrot actually turned out to be rotten, well…

“Damnit! What the hell is going on?” VAVA swiped his arm out, knocking his fist into the wall beside him with a tremendous snap. Zero didn’t flinch, instead giving VAVA an unimpressed look. 

“Calm down and forget it, let’s just look around. We came across  _ something _ here. Can’t hurt to investigate.”

Ever the voice of reason. VAVA looked up, pulling himself back up into a straighter posture. Zero was right, but he’d be damned if he was going to vocalize that. Instead, VAVA walked toward one of the walls, where several ancient-looking pieces of machinery stood. Zero put his focus on the table in the center of the room. 

The table was crafted from smoothed out sheet metal, or something close to it. It was reflecting the overhead light a bit too sharply, a huge contrast from the dreary pathway they’d come from. But more interesting than the state of the table was what happened to be scattered on top of its surface.

“—This shit’s gotta be at least a hundred years old,” VAVA’s voice rang out from behind Zero as he picked at the walls of machinery. Zero only gave a passing glance before returning his focus to the table.

VAVA’s observation only made this stranger. Slowly, Zero picked up what appeared to be newly pressed data chips. They stuck out horribly among the rest of the equipment: bright and untouched, an iridescent green, still carrying with them a vague scent reminiscent of a manufacturing line while everything else around them languished in oxidation marks. 

Alongside the chips was what appeared to be some kind of data transfer device, also newer, but clearly used, and recently, if the warmth of the handle was anything to go by. Zero turned the chip around in his hand, his eyes squinting at it as if that would clue him in to what its contents might be.

Even so, something told him that there wasn’t anything all that innocent about them. 

Zero’s thoughts were interrupted as VAVA knocked down an old oil pan, the clattering of it skittering across the hard floor reverberating all throughout the room. He glared daggers at him, annoyed for his lack of care for what may have been crucial evidence into something important. “Watch it, what if you break something important?

VAVA clearly didn’t buy that possibility, if the way he shrugged as he turned toward Zero was any indication. “I doubt there’s anything important in that heap of scrap. Anyway, what did you…” VAVA’s steps slowed as he caught sight of what was in Zero’s hand. Whatever laissez faire attitude he was adopting didn’t last long, all because of that tiny little data chip Zero was still holding up.

He walked over to Zero with purpose, reaching down to the small pile of chips scattered about. Zero, perplexed by yet another facet of VAVA’s odd behavior, dared to open his mouth and possibly whatever can of worms he’d probably regret releasing in short order.

“What? What’s wrong?”

VAVA had a chip in his hand and was holding it up to the blaring light above them, just as Zero had a moment ago. Zero watched him, idly wondering how his eyes could handle being blasted with such a strong brightness like that. VAVA sighed deeply. 

“This…  _ this  _ was in my intel. These chips…” VAVA set it down on the table with a soft clatter, “we found them scattered around a layover site the New Gen groups were using before moving out.”

Finally, something  _ was  _ coming together. Zero’s eyes were wide and perhaps he was a bit more intrigued than he had any right to be, but he couldn’t help it. It was the first hint of what they came here to do in the first place and he wanted to pounce on it. 

“Well, what do they do? What’re they for?”

VAVA walked from the table, looking around the room for something. It seemed like he knew what to look for this time, as he approached one of the terminals embedded into the wall, practically invisible for how much it blended in with everything else. 

“My mercs are made up of both New Gen and last gen Reploids.”

Zero blinked, the randomness of the statement throwing him off, “What relevance does that have to anything?”

VAVA was pulling at the terminal’s touchpad, yanking it up sharply with a metallic screech. More unnecessary manhandling that Zero would cringe about.

“It’s relevant because these chips are only compatible with New Gen hardware. I found this out because some of my mercs were trying to access data on the chips directly,” VAVA sounded a bit terse admitting to this. It probably wasn’t the proudest moment of his company’s time together.

Zero seemed to share that sentiment, looking bemused by the audacity.

“W-what? That’s gotta be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard! What’s the average IQ of your mercs? Twelve?”

Perhaps a bit harsh to some, but for VAVA, he took it in stride, snorting out a derisive laugh.

“Probably. Trust me, I wasn’t thrilled when I found out what the hell they were all doing,” VAVA’s fingers glided across the terminal as he continued, “but there’s this prevailing sense of security from the New Gen Reploids, what with the ‘immunity’ and all.”

That made it fall into place a little bit. Zero had recalled the odd displays of pride some of the New Gens showed over the older Reploid models for their total immunity. It was irritating, at best. 

“But I know better.”

VAVA let that hang in the air for a moment before he extended an arm back, motioning at Zero without taking his eyes off the screen. “Give me one of those chips.”

After what VAVA had just finished talking about, Zero’s hesitation was perhaps expected. 

“I really don’t want to deal with you uploading some weird data into your system…”

VAVA stopped, lifting his head to stare at Zero from his spot across the room. Though Zero couldn’t see his face, he could tell what kind of look he was being given.  _ Fine _ . Without a word, Zero walked over and placed a chip in VAVA’s waiting hand.

That all settled, VAVA inserted the chip into a recessed part of the terminal and waited. The terminal seemed to hang, processing the data compressed onto the card with no shortage of effort. Zero stepped closer, looking over VAVA’s shoulder.

After that initial lull, the terminal immediately booted into what looked like a very rudimentary program. Text only, something akin to the centuries-old video files he’d seen uploaded to one of the library centers. The terminal filled the already brightened room with another layer of dim, fluorescent light as it scrolled through the procedure.

VAVA typed onto the console, using a command to pull up the raw code of the chip. It scrolled across the screen rapidly, almost too quickly to keep up with. But VAVA didn’t seem to have any issues, since he started to laugh at the discovery he’d made.

“What did you find?” Zero looked from VAVA to the terminal, trying to discern if it was something obvious he missed the first time around. VAVA shook his head.

“It’s a kill script. That kind of sheds some new light on the intel we gathered… It certainly makes sense, considering these are New Gens we’re dealing with.”

The lights above them hummed and droned, a rumble through the ground causing a few to flicker briefly before resuming as normal. Zero frowned.

“A kill script? How does that make sense? A New Gen is gonna be immune to it anyway, right?”

VAVA clicked his tongue in annoyance, “You’re wrong.” He pulled the chip from the terminal with a jerky movement, crushing it to dust in his hand. He gave Zero a focused glare.

“No program can ever be fully immune to anything.”

With that, VAVA started toward the table, hellbent on destroying what remained of the chips there.

“Wait, wait,” Zero followed after him, maneuvering to place himself between VAVA and the table. “I feel like I’m missing a big piece of this picture that you’re not telling me about.”

VAVA huffed. There was so much to go over, and yet so little of it made sense. He was getting tired of all of Zero’s questions, but he couldn’t bring himself to shut him out. Not this time. Crossing his arms over his chest, VAVA decided to just get it over with.

“My New Gen mercs started acting oddly after uploading the data into their systems.”

Zero rose a brow, unable to prevent a wry smirk from forming on his lips, “You’re… gonna have to be more specific than that. You’re all Mavericks, for the most part, so ‘acting oddly’ really doesn’t tell me much.”

“Ugh, you’re so annoying,” VAVA shifted in place, tapping his foot to the ground. He really didn’t know why he was going along into this, considering how much time they were wasting. VAVA raised a finger and pointed it at his own head mockingly, “Recall, if you can, what that dead guy out there was babbling about right before he bit it. Surely that blonde brain of yours retained that much, right?”

Zero scowled, but ignored the jab in favor of keeping the conversation moving, “Yeah, he said some weird shit about ‘going home’ or something.”

“Exactly. My mercs started saying shit like that too, right before they voluntarily shut their own programs down.”

Zero’s annoyed expression turned vaguely horrified. That sounded like... 

“Wait, you mean…”

VAVA sighed deeply, and moved past Zero to get to the table. This time, Zero didn’t stop him and only looked on as VAVA started gathering up the chips to crush them in his hands.

“Yes, suicide. They offed themselves due to the contents of these chips scrambling their brains.”

Zero grimaced. This was getting out of hand, spiralling much further than he’d prepared himself for. To make matters worse, VAVA didn’t seem to be as detached as he could have been, talking about his mercenaries. It was almost like he was doing this for more than just the Zenny he was getting as payment. But maybe he was reading too far into it… VAVA had never shown much in the line of camaraderie with their unit back in the day, aside from…

Well, he couldn’t spare the thought of that possibility, considering that his own mission in all of this was to gather counter-intel for VAVA’s team, for VAVA himself.

And to kill him at the first opening he got.

Zero felt that knot in his stomach reforming quickly, making his throat dry and hands clench into fists. He didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t want to think about how the idea of killing VAVA went from something so easy and an event to look forward to, to slowly becoming more troublesome a thought than he wanted to address. As if he could stop the inevitable, just for a while longer. 

Well, there was plenty of time to think on that later.

“Then someone’s targeting New Gens in particular…”

VAVA nodded, opening his mouth to speak, but a sound deeper into the facility drew his attention. It was a loud clatter and shuffle, followed by an anguished bellow of a scream. It was utterly primal and beyond pained, causing even VAVA to stiffen where he stood.

They looked to each other and knew they couldn’t stick around in this room much longer.

They left the room to venture deeper inside, the terminal blinking dimly behind them before shutting itself down altogether. 


	8. viii.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Further into the underground base, Zero and VAVA find the hallways eerily silent. Zero reflects back on the mistakes he made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another set of flashbacks within!

Zero knew that they had no other choice but to head directly towards that haunting wail that reverberated against the walls and now, in their heads. It was unlike any other sound he’d heard before, and Zero had seen and heard his share of death rattles and final, gruesome moments over the years. There was no doubt that VAVA was the same, having experienced and initiated many brutal killings.

The difference between them was that, as far as Zero understood it, VAVA wasn’t capable of feeling that winding, twisting knot that constricted his insides and continued to grow the longer this mission drew out. It was mild at first, but now the dread was heavy, making his movements slow, his eyes strained.    


He was tired. Too tired to even sleep, had he the option to do so.

“Hey, come look at this,” VAVA’s voice rumbled a few feet to Zero’s right, to which he looked up and saw VAVA sticking his head into another hallway, one that was mapped out full of rooms. It looked almost eerily similar to the way the Hunter’s HQ base looked, specifically where the 17th Unit dormitories were located. 

It was some kind of cruel joke. Sure enough, the rooms were equipped with resting capsules alongside traditional beds. Zero looked on, exasperated, and sighed. He wasn’t one to throw in the towel under any circumstance, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t want a nap even more just by looking at those capsules. VAVA didn’t seem bothered. 

In fact, he just traipsed into the room he’d found, reaching over to activate a light sensor on the wall beside the door. It worked… sort of. The lights flickered, but they dimmed pretty quickly, signaling a bad wiring job or light fixtures that needed replacing. It didn’t matter much, though, since the room itself was fairly spartan. A bed, a capsule, a desk. That was pretty much it. 

“How much you wanna bet that the other rooms are like this, too?” VAVA asked, not expecting any answer, which was a good thing, since Zero wasn’t going to give him one. The answer was obvious, anyway.

Instead, Zero looked for any signs linking these rooms back to the workbench area they had passed before. Any hint that those chips were being circulated at all. He pulled drawers open while VAVA tapped his knuckles across the resting capsule.

“Wakey-wakey,” his voice was a sickly sweet sarcasm that made Zero roll his eyes and cringe while he leafed through some papers and file readers tucked away in the drawers. But it was hard to see what was even in there, if anything at all. Unlike normal capsules, the entire glass surface appeared to be blacked out, showing only a mirror-like reflection back at them. VAVA was apparently equally entertained with knocking on it as he was with looking at his own reflection. 

_ This _ .  _ This _ was a wanted Maverick with a bounty on his head. Zero could hardly believe it sometimes.

_ Thunkthunk _ . VAVA’s knocking on the glass surface of the capsule sounded hollow, as empty as the room it sat in. Zero was nearly tempted to tell him to leave it; what point was there in messing with a capsule that was most likely empty, anyway?

_ Thunkthunk _ .

But it wasn’t empty.

Zero took a look over his shoulder, eyes narrowed and lips parted, on the edge of demanding that VAVA stop messing with it. But his eyes caught the status screen of the capsule itself.

**“UPLOAD COMPLETE. PLEASE REMOVE SUBJECT.”**

That wasn’t a normal screen he’d ever seen on a resting capsule before…

“Hey, move aside,” Zero left the drawer hanging open, nudging VAVA with his elbow. He was met with an irritated, “Watch it,” before VAVA actually stepped away from his new plaything.

Zero started giving the capsule a good once-over. It was pretty much the same standard capsule that most Reploids used for resting and diagnostics, albeit newer than his own back at the base. Same mechanics applied, though, and Zero easily tapped through some menus to reach a diagnostics page. The screen showed the anatomy of a Reploid inside. Female model, noncombatant, registered as a mechanic at a garage in Abel City. 

New Gen.

“VAVA,” Zero spoke without lifting his head from the screen, “can you see if you can pull the release hatch and slide this open?”

VAVA, who had been quiet for a while now, shrugged his shoulders.

“I can, probably, but these things are all running on a mechanical hinge. I might break it.”

Zero looked over his shoulder, an incredulous look drawing his brows together, “Who cares?”

To which VAVA gave a dramatic sigh and stomped back over, arms raised, “ _ You’re _ the one who doesn’t like me breaking shit on missions, remember? But fine, I’ll crack it open.”

Right… He  _ had _ been the one to harp on that.

* * *

**SEVERAL YEARS EARLIER**

Zero wasn’t especially social, but he enjoyed a bit of bullshitting with his teammates every now and then. It had been two weeks since the incident on the highway off-ramp occurred with most of the cleanup effort winding down. Zero had managed to barter with the 2nd Unit Commander, earning him extra hands to help liberate the area of all the rubble and debris from VAVA’s “tactical maneuver.”

Right now, Zero was taking a break with some of that team, right outside of the work area, on a grassy hill. The group was a healthy mix of 17th Unit and 2nd Unit members and it was a good morale booster, too. Having them work together like this showed that even if the 17th was made up of the best of the best, they still were capable of treating the lower ranked members like equals.

“Phew! Y’know, I’m glad we’re almost done, but I’m kinda bummed we won’t be working like this with you guys after this!” One C Class Hunter from the 2nd spoke up; he was a ranger, desperate to join the 9th Unit and utterly gobsmacked that he was able to brush shoulders with such talented Hunters.

“Hey now, don’t get too ahead of yourself. For all we know, we could be back at another cleanup in a month’s time!” An SA Class Hunter laughed, one of Zero’s subordinates in the 17th. 

There was a hearty laugh from the group, Zero simply smiled, letting out a breathless chuckle.

“Let’s hope not,” Zero supplied, taking a sip from the E-Tank he’d been drinking from, “Hauling concrete is not my idea of a fun afternoon, with or without you guys.”

“Yeah, I get it! But, y’know, with that guy in your Unit, it’s only a matter of time, right?” a bookish 2nd Unit member piped up, nudging the glasses he wore up his nose. “He’s a total maniac! How has he not been labeled a Maverick yet?!”

Zero looked a bit taken aback. His fingers tightened around the E-Tank, but the unexpected uproar of hysterics drowned out the creaking of the tin.

His teammates clearly didn’t take as much offense to that as he did.

“Yeah, tell me about it! Just be lucky you don’t gotta deal with his ass every single day!”

“He’s such a goddamn pill. I swear, he loses his temper at the stupidest shit.”

“One time, I heard he beat up someone from the 4th Unit because they knocked his communicator out of his hand!” 

“What? No way!”

“I’m tellin’ ya, the guy’s a lunatic! Commander Sigma would be doin’ everyone a favor by petitioning for his decommission! It’d make my nights much more restful knowin’ I wouldn’t have to wake up bein’ on the same team as him!”

Zero sat there in silence, listening to his teammates rag on one of their own. It was hard to listen to, but … it wasn’t exactly a stretch of the imagination. Though, Zero doubted the legitimacy of VAVA beating on one of the other unit members… Flame Mammoth would have probably caved his head in; he was a little too greedy with abusing his own to let someone from the 17th participate in that type of behavior.

Still, he said nothing. He sat there, E-Tank half full and slightly dented against his palm. The chattering continued, regardless:

“Yeah, it’s true! I also heard that Doctor Cain was talkin’ to the engineering and med team, y’know? He was sayin’ somethin’ like VAVA’s cortex has a, um… what’s it called?”

“Suffering Circuit, c’mon man, that’s Day One terminology.”

“Shut up! But yeah, his circuit-thing is fucked up! He’s totally incapable of empathy!”

“You’re kidding me. Well, I guess that would explain a lot…”

“What?! Does Commander Sigma know about this?!”

“Of course he does, Doctor Cain has meetings with him on a bi-daily basis, pretty much.”

“Ugh, useless.”

“Tell me about it. But hey, if they’re not gonna do anything about it, we’re all Maverick Hunters, right? And VAVA’s definitely turning out to be a Maverick…”

Zero lifted his head, turning to look at one of his teammates as they opened the floodgates with that little suggestion. But this time, Zero wasn’t going to let that little idea slide by without a word.

“What’re you suggesting?” his voice was firm, loud enough to cut through the pensive murmurs they had inspired.

“Huh? W-well, y’know…” Just like that, they started to back down. Zero had enough clout to intimidate most anyone; they knew he had a direct line to Sigma and could get any of them demoted if the right words were spoken.

Zero felt a momentary lapse in the tension that had been tightening at his neck and shoulders. Good, maybe now they could talk about something else…

“No, wait, she’s onto somethin’, Zero! If VAVA’s a Maverick, we should just take him down and get it over with, right?”

Zero’s eyes widened as the group was rallied again, a rising energy buzzing around them all as a warm spring wind tousled his hair.

“We can’t get in trouble for something like that, it’s true! And besides, who would miss him?”

“Hah! Not me, that’s for sure!”

Their voices all started to blend together the further they delved into this makeshift idea. It was a mess of negativity and borderline mutiny, but Zero knew that, given the circumstances and who VAVA was, there would be a certain level of leniency for having this kind of discussion if he were to report it.

And speaking out against it wouldn’t solve anything. At most, it would paint a target on his back as well. And while Zero didn’t care for gossip and inter-unit politics, he had a responsibility to uphold as working Commander for this little project. He couldn’t engage in this conversation.

Later that night, he’d come to regret it.

* * *

Because that night, he was laying in his capsule, staring up at the ceiling, finding it exceedingly difficult to wind down to sleep. He wasn’t exactly sure why, but there was a tense energy that made him feel more restless, like he had to get up and go do something.

It didn’t help that his mind wouldn’t stop replaying snippets of that conversation earlier in the day. Zero wasn’t sure  _ why  _ it was bothering him so much, since it wasn’t like the speculation wasn’t without backing evidence. VAVA  _ had _ been getting more and more aggressive and reckless within the past few months. He had always been cocky and temperamental, but it was getting out of hand.

Zero knew it was because of X, and he was certain that everyone else would, too, if VAVA’s penchant for outbursts and such was going to continue on this type of trend. It would only be a matter of time before everyone would put it together and realize that VAVA was his most disagreeable and acrid whenever X was around or even mentioned in passing.

There was nothing to be done about that, though. VAVA had to get over it or else he was only going to end up isolating himself further.

Zero sighed, sitting up in the capsule and stepping out. He wasn’t going to get any sleep now that he was thinking about it, so he may as well get some late night training in.

Since the training room was closed for the night, Zero elected to take a jog around the base, maybe test his dash-system to ensure it was optimally calibrated. He stepped out into the cool night air, looking into the distance where the city lights twinkled and gleamed. It looked peaceful then and Zero hoped it would remain that way for many nights to come.

But they were in the middle of a rebel crisis, so that was a pipe dream he only entertained when he could afford to: when he was completely alone. 

If only he  _ was _ completely alone.

Zero hadn’t noticed it immediately, but that didn’t last long, given who it happened to be.

“VAVA?” Zero turned to face his squadmate, trying to hide the fact that it was strange seeing someone he had just been lamenting over while trying to sleep ten minutes ago. It was almost embarrassing, though it wasn’t like VAVA could read his mind.

“How’s it hangin’?” Charming as ever. VAVA was still decked in his armor, save for his shoulder cannon, but he looked as ready for combat as he always did. That confident posture and the nonchalance in his step, crushing the soft, damp grass underfoot as he came closer to Zero.

“You can’t sleep either?” Zero supplied as he rested a hand on his hip, regarding VAVA with the same cool composure he afforded to everyone else. No weakness, no openings.

Well, maybe admitting to being unable to sleep was kind of a weakness… VAVA, luckily, didn’t tear that one to pieces immediately and only offered up a laugh.

“Sleeping is for losers. I don’t cycle more than 2 or 3 hours every few days.”

Zero  _ wanted _ to look stunned at that admission, but instead he ended up looking exasperated. Shutting his eyes, he breathed out a suffering sigh.

“Are you serious? No wonder you’ve been so on edge lately.”

_ No _ , bad move.

“Huh? What’re you talking about?” If VAVA hadn’t been on edge before, he certainly was getting there now; his tense, squared out shoulders gave that away easily. 

Zero inwardly cringed. Right. He probably shouldn’t imply anything with VAVA right now. Who knew if he’d throw another punch or try to slam Zero into the nearest wall. 

“Nevermind. You should be getting at least 5 or more a day, not 16 every fortnight.”

VAVA’s sharp laugh felt more mocking than amused, which Zero wasn’t sure what to make of. It was really hard to predict how VAVA would act anymore, now that he’d been so all over the place.

“You worry about yourself, okay? You don’t need to be concerned with what I’m doing,” VAVA walked up to Zero and clapped a hand on his shoulder in a way that Zero knew to be condescending.

So he reached up and batted his hand away with a frown. “Actually, I do. You’re in my unit and I’m Sigma’s second in command. So ‘what you’re doing’  _ is _ my business, VAVA.” 

VAVA hesitated, withdrawing his hand. He was silent, which wasn’t exactly a good thing. Zero’s lips thinned out as he watched him carefully. He was waiting for VAVA’s temper to erupt, for his voice to raise and his eyes to glow that dangerous red.

But none of those things happened. VAVA just stood there, staring. Zero blinked, starting to turn back around and walk off to return to his plan of jogging around the base, “So go get some rest and—”

“Is that why I’m being told that you’re rallying a group to try and ‘retire’ me?”

Zero swore, for the first time in his life, he felt his heart stop beating. His eyes widened and a sudden rippling frustration overcame his sensors. He turned back around to look at VAVA, expecting him to be in the same spot. He wasn’t.

He was right in his face.

Zero didn’t hesitate and jumped back, lifting his arm up to engage his buster. VAVA just stood there, staring at him. 

“So. It’s true.”

Zero’s thoughts in that moment were a mess of jumbled information, bits of conversations overheard and the shouting he witnessed on more than one occasion. Sigma’s disappointment in VAVA’s reckless behavior, Doctor Cain’s look of guilt whenever he and VAVA crossed paths, VAVA’s clenched fists and seething temper.

But in not one of those frames of data that rocketed across his mind was there any memory of talking to VAVA about any of these moments or rumors.

Because he never bothered to.

He never bothered to reach out to him, even though he was his combatant partner in everything but name. Even though he knew that VAVA was tense due to X’s easy induction to the unit, whereas VAVA had to climb up the ranks and prove his worth. It made sense that someone who was trying to be worth his rank would get agitated by a non-combatant nobody suddenly taking a coveted spot in the unit. 

Even if VAVA’s reactions were never rational or within the range of reasonable, Zero knew he could have said something to him. Zero knew VAVA better than anyone and VAVA had trusted him more than any other squadmate, that much was very obvious. He could have sat him down, talked to him, tried to get his damaged brain to wrap around the concept that there was nothing to be done about X joining their ranks, that it didn’t speak poorly against VAVA’s own worth. That VAVA was still his equal, even though Zero had been mentoring and observing X’s progress far more than anything else.

Zero lowered his arm, the buster fading back into its compartment. Zero never felt true guilt before because he was extremely black and white about his work: Mavericks were Mavericks, they deserved to be put down. Anyone who spoke or acted like a Maverick wasn’t to be trusted. You didn’t try to reach out to them, you just eradicate them.

So why was this so hard to fall in line with? Why did he still say nothing, but simultaneously feel a pit forming in his stomach whenever he heard anyone talking shit about VAVA?

Zero took a step forward, VAVA took one back.

“VAVA, listen to me,” maybe there was still time to fix this, to figure out why he was feeling so shitty and yet couldn’t bring himself to act.

“No! Why should I?” VAVA’s arm shot out, hitting a nearby tree trunk. “No one listens to  _ me _ ! They all just whisper about me and talk shit! They don’t understand anything!”

Zero grimaced, clenching his hand into a fist. His jaw tightened and his teeth ground together. Even if he could understand VAVA’s frustration, he wasn’t going to stand there and just take the verbal assault. He had to try and get through to him,  _ somehow _ .

“Because everyone’s afraid of you, VAVA! You’ve been acting out so badly these past five months that no one wants to get caught up in your bullshit! Ever since X came onto the team, you’ve—”

That hadn’t been the route to take. Within moments of uttering X’s name, VAVA shouted, a growl as primal as any Zero had ever heard before. He didn’t have time to react before VAVA slammed into him with a force so great, the wind was knocked from his chest. VAVA pinned Zero to the ground, Zero’s flaxen hair splayed out in the grass and dirt, his shoulders pressing down, sinking in it, his boots scraping into the land for any kind of purchase.

“Shut the _fuck_ _up about X_!!” VAVA’s hands clenched and shook at Zero’s shoulders, hard enough for him to feel the pressure down on his skin. “I’m sick of hearing his name! I’m tired of everyone talking about him! He’s worthless! He doesn’t even do his job right!” VAVA’s eyes were glowing a dangerous red and Zero sucked in a breath he’d forgotten to take. This was probably the angriest he’d ever seen him, at least up close. It was honestly horrifying to endure, not just because of how loud and aggressive he was being. 

What he was saying was cutting into him.

“And all  _ you _ do is fawn over him! That’s your entire  _ life _ now! You act like I don’t exist! You act like I’ll ‘taint’ your precious little child just by opening my mouth! You haven’t even  _ spoken _ to me in a month!” VAVA gave Zero’s shoulder another shake, shoving him down against the ground again. He knelt there, panting roughly, glaring daggers at Zero and shaking with unbridled rage.

Zero could only stare up at him. 

They remained like that for a long, tense moment. The moon’s light cast a dim glow on VAVA’s armor, the wind that passed by was humid and carrying a warning of an impending storm.

There wasn’t a star in the sky.


	9. ix.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cracking the capsule open, VAVA and Zero begin to get a grasp of how dire the situation has become.

Zero grimaced as the capsule came open with a  _ CRACK _ loud enough to ring in his ears for hours. VAVA had used his considerable strength to force the mechanism open, cracking the chassis in the process. A loud, hydraulic hiss filled the room as the door jerked the rest of the way open on its own, and VAVA took a step back to admire his handiwork.

“It’s more fun when you do it like this,” he said with a self-satisfied grin. Zero only sighed.

As the door jolted around on the track it was attached to, it finally peeled back revealing its contents. The both of them looked on, their curiosity sated for a price they perhaps weren’t ready to pay.

It was a New Gen, alright. She was dead, though it couldn’t have been too long since her systems shut down. Zero cautiously approached while VAVA looked back toward the opening of the room, listening for anything suspicious.

At first glance, Zero didn’t see anything overt with the condition of her body. Like the other Reploid, her armor was less combat-oriented and more casual. She was a mechanic, so there were some attachments there that supported that information. 

But as he looked closer, he noticed something horrible.

“VAVA… come look at this.”

VAVA’s head swiveled back and he turned to Zero, approaching the capsule with a bored stride.

“What, what… what is it? It’s just a dead body, right?”

Right… VAVA kind of lacked the proper synapses to understand what Zero was seeing.

And sure, it was a Reploid’s corpse, but it was also positioned in a way that indicated something more layered than just death alone.

“Look, her hands. And her mouth.”

VAVA peered in, his eyes readjusting to the dimmer light inside the capsule. The Reploid’s hands were worn at the fingers, to the point of her gauntlet material wearing down and exposing her skin. And beyond that, her fingertips were so worn from some kind of friction that they were bloody.

And her mouth was agape. Like she had screamed.

Tilting his head back, VAVA looked up at the capsule door, which was unevenly hanging off of its hinges above them. Sure enough, there was more evidence there. VAVA pointed up at it, glancing Zero’s way.

“Check it out, she must’ve been trying to get out. There’s blood all over the window.”

A one-way window, which this only confirmed. It wasn’t merely blacked out entirely with a mirrorlike coating, it was a full-on one-way deal. She could see out, but no one could see inside. No one could see her frantically scraping at the door. No one could see her screaming.

Zero nodded, “And the terminal had the same kill script loaded. Someone must have shoved her in here and engaged the admin lock, then uploaded the data.”

“Hmmn…” VAVA took a step back, tapping his foot on the smooth floor, “What does this solve, though? She’s not a Hunter, right? She doesn’t look like one.”

“She’s a mechanic,” Zero supplied, reaching over to pull the capsule door down again.

“A mechanic, huh. Doesn’t seem that threatening to me.”

Zero stepped away from the terminal, rubbing at his face. 

“Just what the hell is going on here?”

VAVA gave a shrug, pulling the chip from the capsule’s loading port and crushing it in his hand.

“Someone’s lookin’ to get murdered, that’s what.”

* * *

While Zero didn’t openly agree with VAVA’s sentiment, he felt it was a feeling that was at least somewhat justified. Whoever was doing this, targeting not Hunters but civilians, was not someone who really deserved to be running around so freely. There had to be more information somewhere, some kind of hint as to who was doing this and why.

“Before we move on, let me look at these documents in her desk,” Zero said, moving back to the drawer he had left hanging open. VAVA gave a shrug and waved his hand around.

“Alright, fine. But I’m gonna go around the other rooms and see there’s anymore shit to break.”

Zero tried to look annoyed, but at this far into their little investigation, there wasn’t much of a precedent to chastise VAVA for his actions. “So long as it’s the chips you’re breaking and not anyone else.”

VAVA gave no response, outside of a dry series of chuckles before he left the room to Zero and started into the room across the hall.

With that distraction removed, Zero could turn to focus on what little bits of paper and document tablets he’d found in the desk.

“Alright, so…” He started to go through the papers first. Paper was pretty expensive for civilians anymore, so it was a bit of a surprise to see it. Actually, it was more than just a surprise, it was strange… why  _ would _ a civilian Reploid have access to something so pricey? It wasn’t like it was used for anything more than the most important documents, things that were still rooted in archaic traditions of signatures and validation stamps. A dying art, but it still clung to life in the business and government sectors. It was even hand-written on, with ink, another rarity for someone who was on a mechanic’s salary. It almost looked like…

“Is this a journal…?”

Or at least something close to it. It wasn’t bound, like in a notebook or binder, but rather loose and haphazardly organized. Zero tried his best to compile them in some kind of order, starting with the oldest entries first.

> “ _ February 12th _
> 
> _ This’ll be my first entry after moving into the facility! I’ve actually never kept a journal before, let alone one that was made of actual paper! I’m kind of nervous… my handwriting isn’t that fancy or pretty, so it kind of feels like a waste to use it. But, our leader said that we deserve to experience a little bit of indulgence for now, since the real work will be starting soon! _
> 
> _ I’m actually really excited to be here, if a bit nervous… I never knew that there were so many New Gens like me who felt this way! There’s only about five of us moved in, but our leader says that more are on their way and will be arriving within the coming days! How exciting! I can’t wait to meet some new friends! I wonder how they all met him? Hopefully we’ll have a nice get-together once they’re settled in! _
> 
> _ February 13th _
> 
> _ I slept great! I was a bit worried about how comfortable I’d be… I do feel it’s a little risky to be living underneath an old Maverick Hunter base, but our leader has said that it’s totally abandoned so we have nothing to worry about! The resting capsule is really nice, too! They’re installed with what our leader calls a ‘privacy screen,’ so no one can see inside while we’re resting! That really puts my mind at ease; I don’t like people watching me sleep! _
> 
> _ February 16th _
> 
> _ More of our group has finally arrived! There’s 6 more of them and our leader says several more are on their way, too! Everyone has a lot of energy and we’re really excited to start our transformation to the next level of existence! _ ”

Zero’s eyes narrowed, “‘Level of existence…?’ What the hell does that even mean?” The papers shuffled in his hands as he moved onto the next page.

> “ _ April 7th _
> 
> _ Wow, it’s been awhile since I wrote a journal, huh? It’s kinda funny, I just don’t feel the need to record my thoughts as much, I guess! I feel kind of bad, our leader had given us more sheets of paper to use, even brand new pens… But I suppose it’s my duty to those who might come after me to make sure this wonderful process is archived!  _
> 
> _ Our leader has a way with words… He’s really inspirational. He tells us how our lives here, in this reality, were all predetermined by humans… how humans feel as though we’re a mistake due to being ‘too humanlike and yet far greater’ with all of the benefits we enjoy. It’s why Lumine failed in his mission to rally our people; he wasn’t strong enough to break past his own misgivings and fell into his vices. But our leader is so much more vigilant! He knows better than to try and fight the humans and Maverick Hunters. He knows of a better way to help us evolve and transcend!  _
> 
> _ He wants us to go to our  _ real _ home. He’s going to free us of the chains that bind us to this human-dominated world and let us shine among the stars! We’ve all been helping him with preparing the modules that’ll help us free ourselves. I can’t wait to get mine! He’s been having us go on missions, passing out our little ‘tokens’ to other New Gens, along with some kind words. Not all of them will go for it, it  _ does _ sound a little crazy, but if we can recruit even  _ one  _ more person, it’ll be a successful endeavor in my eyes!  _
> 
> _ In fact, we actually went to a secluded hide-out recently to continue our work! It was so cool, I really felt like we were vigilantes, going out into the world to secretly help our brethren! Our leader prepared everything and we actually did a little mission to another secluded base in the area. They all looked like outcasts like us, I think someone said they were mercenaries? Either way, our leader managed to convince their boss to let us into the compound. We offered up our share of modules to them and they actually took them! Their boss looked kind of skeptical, though it was kind of hard to tell… I couldn’t really see his face clearly. But like I said, if even  _ one _ of them agrees to join us, it’ll be worth it!  _
> 
> _ You know, I never would have thought I’d be in a situation like this. I was just a mechanic, after all. My life was pretty typical and I was happy with that, but I always felt like something was missing. Our leader helped me realize that. He made me realize that nothing in this world we’re in right now matters, not even this paper and ink I’m using. My happiness was only a farce engendered by my programming, created by humans. So, I guess that’s why I don’t feel like writing things down as much. _
> 
> _ I can’t wait til I can meet my true self. _ ”

This journal was definitely giving Zero a better feel for what kind of things went on in this place… Why these people were so easily manipulated…

There was only one page left… The ink was hurried across the paper, changing from a neat and meticulous print to a rushed and scratched out scrawl. 

> “ _ april 20 _
> 
> _ For the first time since i’ve gotten here, i feel scared and weak. I can’t tell if it’s my human-created programming or something else. I feel like i made a mistake but i can’t back out now _
> 
> _ It was finally time to start our journey, is what the leader said. At first i was really excited, it felt like everything was coming together and it’d finally pay off. Our leader initiated the first of our ranks to transcend. He used those chips we helped him create, in the workroom  _
> 
> _ He put the chip in _
> 
> _ It was horrible _
> 
> _ He told us not to be frightened since the effects… they were just the last remnants of our comrade’s human-created shackles clawing into him, trying to keep him tethered to this world but _
> 
> _ The sound _
> 
> _ His eyes _
> 
> _ I don’t think i want to do this anymore _
> 
> _ this isn’t home anymore” _

Zero breathed out sharply, giving the page another turn over before setting it back on the desk. The only other item was a file reader, left idle on a page from a news circulator:

> “ **_ODD MICROCHIPS FOUND. POSSIBLE MAVERICK PROPAGANDA?_ **
> 
> _ On early Tuesday morning, the body of Reploid activist Niles of Abel City was found deactivated and wiped in a city alley near his place of employment. Recovery efforts were unsuccessful, as Mr. Niles’s entire data file was corrupted beyond repair and all backup memory banks were deleted. _
> 
> _ Local authorities made a statement, quote, ‘We are diligently working with our in-house detectives and the Maverick Hunters Association to determine if this is an incident of foul play. At this time, we can only confirm that Mr. Niles was not assaulted in any way and any injuries sustained to his body were superficial and not indicative of a struggle.’ _
> 
> _ However, anonymous reports have surfaced indicating that there were strange, unidentified microchips found near Mr. Niles’s body that may have been crucial to the investigation. When asked for a statement, the Maverick Hunter Association declined to provide any further corroboration.  _
> 
> _ Some sources state that the chips may contain data to another Maverick uprising, as tensions have been high between New Generation Reploids and humans, leaving many anxious. _
> 
> _ Niles was a renowned Reploid activist, specifically assisting with New Generation Reploids and the stigma that has developed after the coup d'etat organized by former Jakob Orbital Elevator Director, Lumine. Lumine was retired late last year by esteemed Maverick Hunters X, Zero and Axl.  _
> 
> _ A memorial service for Niles will be announced later this week by the Reploids for Peace Committee, of which Niles was a chairman. _ ”

As Zero placed the file reader onto the small stack of papers, VAVA’s voice rang out from another room down the hall.

“Oi! Zero!”

What a moron. Zero didn’t expect to find anyone living here, but there was some merit to being quiet when in an unknown area, right? Apparently VAVA never learned that lesson.


	10. x.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> VAVA and Zero discover more documentation that only increases their confusion about the situation.

Zero exited the room, hand hovering over the hilt of his saber as he reached the source of VAVA’s voice. He was in another room, almost identical to the one they’d found initially, with another capsule shut tight from the world. The terminal had the same message flashing across its screen:

**“UPLOAD COMPLETE. PLEASE REMOVE SUBJECT.”**

“Goddamnit,” Zero cursed, shaking his head and rubbing his face in exasperation. “Another one? What about the other rooms?”

“No dice, not really,” VAVA said with a shrug. “All the capsules looked empty, for real. There were a couple notes here and there, but most of it was really boring crap. Basically diaries full of drivel about how excited they were to be here or something.”

“Right… That’s what that mechanic was writing about, too. I think they were helping distribute those chips, too.” VAVA exhaled roughly, annoyed.

“Fan-fuckin’-tastic. Well, I guess it’s a good thing if they’re all offin’ themselves now. No one’ll be left to make those damn chips.”

“Right…” Zero raised a hand to his chin, thinking about all the data they’d found so far. “Hey, were there any notes about some guy leading them?” He knew it was a longshot to ask VAVA about little details like that, but he figured it was worth a try.

Surprisingly, VAVA nodded, “Yeah, they didn’t give a name, though. I’m guessing some loopy New Gen who’s given up on life and wanted to drag everyone down with him.”

“That’s an interesting way to look at it,” Zero said, grimacing at the thought. 

“Yeah? Well why else would he try and rally a bunch of strangers like this? He’s clearly miserable and wants everyone else to think they’re miserable, too.”

“Were those mercs of yours miserable?”

Maybe not the most tactful comment to make, but VAVA hadn’t really made any deep indication of attachment to any of his mercenaries. But VAVA himself looked a bit surprised, though it was hard to tell by body language alone. It was more the half-intake of breath he took that clued it in, soft and nearly inaudible. But Zero heard it.

Damn.

But rather than fly off the handle, VAVA laughed, the sound hollow and empty.

“Hah! I mean, probably. They  _ chose  _ to become mercenaries, it’s not like I forced them. You don’t really do that if you’ve got a stellar outlook on life or any other place where you belong.”

Zero looked away. He didn’t want to get into that. It only made this whole situation more confusing. VAVA was never the type to think deeply about camaraderie, so it just added another layer of bizarre developments Zero wasn’t ready to dissect. 

“C’mon. Let’s go see if we can find anything else.”

VAVA watched as Zero started out of the room, hesitating for a moment before calling out to him.

“Actually, Zero,” VAVA began, gesturing to the hallway. “There was something I found that maybe we should take a look at.”

Zero stopped in his tracks, turning halfway to look at VAVA incredulously. That he actually elected to point something out was… pretty surprising. He would have assumed that VAVA didn’t have any reason to bring it to his attention at all. But he wasn’t going to question it, lest VAVA change his mind, as he was prone to do.

“Okay, then,” Zero said, looking at VAVA expectantly. “Show me where it is.”

* * *

VAVA ended up taking Zero to another one of the bedrooms, if one could even call them that. It was adjacent to the other two Zero had poked around in, looking no different from the rest. Same spartan style, same set up of a bed, capsule, and desk.

There weren’t any papers there that Zero could see, but there was a singular file reader on standby, similarly set to an article from some news circular. 

“There. Read that,” VAVA gestured to it, as if Zero needed any direction. He was already halfway to lifting it up, anyway.

> **_“CONTROVERSIAL REPLOID ACTIVIST FIGURE MISSING FOR 10 DAYS_ **
> 
> _ Authorities are still attempting to locate a staff member of the Reploids for Peace Organization who has been missing for ten straight days. The staff member, whose name has not been released to the public by the organization nor investigative teams, has been identified by anonymous reports as the controversial Reploid activist Vaciti.  _
> 
> _ Vaciti is known well throughout New Gen circuits as an outspoken propagator of Reploid independence through segregation. Vaciti had come under fire late last year when they openly sympathized with former Orbital Elevator Director Lumine and his rampancy against humankind. Vaciti had emphasized at that time that they do not condone violent acts against humans but rather a peaceful separation, stating that Reploids are now at a point where living alongside humans causes both parties more harm than good. A large contingent of New Gen Reploids have recently praised Vaciti for their stance, citing mounting tensions as evidence that separate living spaces should be normalized.  _
> 
> _ ‘I think that we’ve outgrown each other,’ Vaciti had stated when questioned about their stance last year. ‘It’s not a bad thing, of course. You can call it ‘evolution,’ if you like. Reploids simply cannot be used as tools any longer, and though I cannot speak on their behalf, I’m sure most humans could struggle with the implications of using a fully sentient being as a utility, if they really stopped to think about it.’  _
> 
> _ Vaciti has been labeled controversial not only for their statements, but their behaviors, as well. Among public records for past offenses as required by employers of Reploids, Vaciti had been cited by the RfPO for improper use of staff equipment and pilgering high-ticket office supplies, such as stationery used for official correspondence, pre-embossed stationery and envelopes, as well as ink pens and binders. Charges were dropped when Vaciti paid the RfPO a requisition fine imposed to avoid further litigation. _
> 
> _ When reached for confirmation or comment, the Reploids for Peace Organization declined to confirm the identity of the missing staff member, citing that the investigation was still active and pending. They also refused to comment about Vaciti’s public infraction record, stating that, quote, ‘all information regarding any infractions levied against any Reploid employed by any business are made fully public per federal regulations. All information provided is accurate to the best of [the company’s] ability and no information regarding such incidents is withheld.’” _

Zero’s eyes scanned over the article again, committing the information to memory before setting it back down on the desk again. He looked back at VAVA, who only offered up a shrug.

“So, I’m guessing that’s probably our guy,” Zero remarked, crossing his arms over his chest. “It matches up, don’t you think?”

VAVA scoffed, “A little  _ too _ convenient for that to just be sitting there, though… But I guess that’s Occam’s Razor at work. I can’t think of any other explanation other than someone’s a bit arrogant and  _ wants _ to be found.”

Zero nodded. “Yeah, it’s convenient, but that guy’s nonsense kinda matches up to the journal pages we’ve come across… They all kinda sound the same… Reploids needing to separate from humans and shit…”

There was a heavy silence. VAVA started toward the hall again. 

“Well, let’s see how much more we can find. I’m ready to separate this guy’s head from his shoulders.”

Zero couldn’t come up with any better sentiment.


	11. xi.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finding the main hall of the base, it becomes abundantly clear what they're dealing with: a dangerous cult.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very long chapter I had to divide up. Getting close, now!

There didn’t seem to be a whole lot of area that was actually occupied in this hidden base. A lot of storage for materials, terminals all over the place, schematics… There were some E-Tanks and other bits of rations, too, as well as shower stations… It was pretty obviously meant to mimic conditions in a military base of some kind. Solidarity. Oneness. Lack of self.

It was little surprise what types of Reploids this place attracted. Ones who really wanted to belong somewhere. Drifters, Reploids singled out due to their strange origins or lower class tasks. Maybe even former petty criminals; those not guilty of crimes so heinous as to label themselves Mavericks, but enough to get them ostracized from the community regardless. 

With little else to note besides the bodies still left in the resting capsules, there was nowhere else to go but down the end of an empty hall, where a large door opened up to reveal a staircase leading up in the makeshift cavern. The walls were carved out crudely, but still managed to exude that bit of quality and utilized that familiar material to make everything fit in. To make it more comfortable to walk through. 

Something they could call home.

They weren’t expecting much but more of the same when they reached the end of the staircase, walking out onto a flat landing that led to yet another door. After all, it seemed to be thrown together by civilians, bound by a common goal of some promised peace they clearly weren’t receiving. But as the final door sheared across its track, filling the silent hallway with a familiar grinding sound, VAVA and Zero were treated to something far different.

“What the…”

A wide, spacious room, but this one looked more like a room where people might come to sit and talk, like an open forum. Or… a place of worship.

The seats were nicer than anything else they’d come across, looking to be custom made and expensive. Their winding patterns of sculpted metal and wood looked like they belonged in a mansion and not some dirt hole in the ground.

The flooring was even a step above: smoothed stone dressed with fine rugs that probably cost more than the yearly salary Zero was allotted. Beautifully tressed light fixtures were installed into the perfectly molded walls, proving just the right amount of warm glow to everything around them.

And in the center, right underneath what appeared to be a giant sinkhole in the caves above, was a statue. It was of some kind of stone, sculpted into the form of a faceless Reploid with one hand pressed to its chest and the other outstretched, as if reaching for the opening above it. 

Zero and VAVA were equally speechless. 

“Am I seeing shit or is that a goddamn statue?” VAVA supplied incredulously, ever the disruptor of silence. For once, Zero couldn’t blame him for his outburst; he was right there with him, looking positively befuddled. 

“Who the hell set this up? Something of this scale…” he looked around them, walking in a short circle and stopping to stare up at VAVA, shaking his head, “who the hell has the kind of capital to front this kind of operation?”

VAVA gave a shrug, walking further into the room, towards the large statue ahead.

“Some altruistic soul, I’m sure,” came his sarcastic addition. He tilted his head back slowly to examine the statue. “I wonder if this is him? From the sounds of it, I bet he’d be the type to commission a statue of himself. Or steal the funds and materials to have it produced, at the very least.”

Zero gave VAVA a look, then snorted, “Don’t they all?” Every single Maverick he’d dealt with seemed to have some kind of ego problem, VAVA especially. Though thankfully, he’d never requested a monument to be erected in his honor… that he knew of.

VAVA was on the verge of biting back, picking up on that subtle jab, when his eyes caught something glinting in the dim light above them. His eyes traced up the statue, following where its hand was outstretched, toward the gigantic sinkhole exposed above. It must have been close to the mouth of the caves on the opposite side of where they fell, since VAVA could make out some traces of moonlight glowing against the rocks edge. 

But more interesting than that was the oddly metallic sheen catching light in between the tunnel above and their current position below. Something hanging from the drop, maybe? VAVA stepped closer, tilting his head back and shining his helmet lights up to try and get a better look. 

Zero, on the other hand, was having no luck finding anything of real interest in this room at all. Not even any kind of real iconography suggesting “worship” of any kind, despite the overall vibes the room gave him. He wanted to call it a bust and head back, but VAVA’s posture, neck craned and shoulders squared, head tilted back, caught his attention. He was staring at something.

Cautiously, Zero approached, his voice tense and wary, “What…?”

VAVA let out a bitter sound, something like a laugh and something more uncertain, quite unfamiliar to hear coming from his mouth. He looked down at Zero, then pointed up at the hole in the ceiling.

“I think I found the rest of the members.”

Zero felt something drop in his stomach as he looked upward, following VAVA’s hand and eventually, the statue’s as well. Sure enough, that glinting bit of metal caught his eye first, but as VAVA turned back to shine his light on it…

“Wha…”

Bodies. Bodies of Reploids suspended above the statue. Some of them were hung from their arms, like marionettes, others seemed to be hanging from their necks. All of them were assuredly dead. 

And around the rim of the rocky opening, Zero could make out words seemingly carved into the stone above:

“ **JOIN US AND RETURN HOME** ”


	12. xii.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> VAVA and Zero come face-to-face with the source of the horrors they have discovered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another flashback here.

They stood there, nearly motionless, staring up at the macabre display, the flagrant disregard for the remains of these Reploids. The twisted way their faces looked, half obscured by shadow and half illuminated by moonlight, made them almost look like reliefs carved into the stone themselves. 

Zero took a step back. VAVA let his hand return to his side.

And the disturbingly somber atmosphere was torn asunder by a crack of laughter, searing through the room and echoing off the stone walls. VAVA and Zero simultaneously jumped to defensive stances, pinpointing on the source:

A figure standing to the far back of the room, slender and androgynous at first glance. Hair long, black, sleek, parting down the middle and framing their face and body like elegant curtains. No armor, but adorned in a simple tunic-like top and pants that hung loosely from their hips.

Wild eyes.

There was a horrible vibe that sank down over Zero, dragging every uncertainty and discomfort down farther over him, draping like weights slung over his shoulders and neck. For as many battles as he waged, as many times as he faced death, this single figure managed to incite a deep sensation of the unknown he’d rarely engaged. 

He drew his saber, the blade crackling to life with a loud snap. He looked to VAVA.    
  
VAVA was ready, hand pressed to his helmet, initiating a scan.

The figure smiled, and took a single step forward, bare feet gently brushing against plush carpeting. Confident and unafraid in the face of two warriors who could easily rip them asunder, at first blush. As if they could feel VAVA’s scan tracing over their form, they stopped still, hair swaying to and fro, before fixing VAVA with a knowing gaze.

Something was wrong.

“Gghkk!” 

The sound was horrid, something reminiscent of the awful noises they’d heard coming into this place. A twisted grunt that was fueled by something out of their control, a wild reflex jerked to life. But it wasn’t coming from any of the Reploids hanging above them.

It was coming from VAVA.

Zero’s eyes widened as he watched his assumed partner lose his footing, crumpling to his knees with a loud  _ CLANG _ . His body slumped, as though all his energy was being sapped, rendering him struggling to move, let alone stand.

“VAVA! H-hey!” Zero couldn’t pull all focus from their target, as much as worrisome as VAVA’s condition was to witness. He couldn’t lose sight of the objective.

And said objective seemed no less threatened than it did a moment ago.

“Ahaha!” The laughter rang out like a bell, but rather than melodic and light, it sounded morose and sinister, like a looming death knell.

Zero’s hand tightened around his saber as the figure approached, a slow pace, one step at a time. He wasn’t playing around. There was no hesitation in Zero’s posture as he brought the saber down, pointing it at the figure as it grew nearer from across the room.

“Don’t move another inch or your body is gonna be a head lighter.”

But the threat didn’t seem to register. The unknown person merely continued forward, their arms slowly opening into what attempted to pass as a friendly welcome, beckoning.

The voice that followed was elegant to match the appearance, but the tone was dripping with an unhinged foreboding. Almost like they knew their visitors had arrived without an invitation, but were still lured there nonetheless.

Rats to a trap.

“You understand why you’re here, don’t you?”

Zero’s arm did not waver, keeping his target within sights of the blade. If there was one thing he hated, it was arrogance in the face of impending doom. He scowled, “What the hell are you talking about?”

The unknown figure began to chuckle again, shaking their head, “No, no… not  _ you _ ,” they turned their gaze upon VAVA’s compromised body, his hands clutching tightly at the sides of his helmet as he strained from some unseen ailment. 

“ _ Him _ .”

Zero couldn’t help himself; he followed the gaze to VAVA, watching in shock as he still struggled to regain his footing. It was a horrible sight to behold, seeing one so tremendous in power and strength and will to be reduced to a useless heap of metal with not so much as a single bullet fired. Zero’s jaw was tight as he turned to shout at VAVA, letting his saber waver from its point, “VAVA! Get a hold on yourself! What’s going on?!” 

He had almost wished he didn’t answer. VAVA’s voice was more strained than he’d ever heard it before, cracked and uneven, “I-... d-don’t know! S-some shit is being project-t-ted-d-d,” his voice stuttered, like the skipping of an audio track, “into my sy-system-em-em. I can’t t-t-ra-a-ce it!”

As Zero watched, the slightest sensation of movement ghosted across his back. Fingers sifted through his hair, gently lifting a handful of locks and letting them sweep down again. 

With a violent swivel, Zero snapped back around to find that figure standing mere inches from his face. How did he manage to get so close?! Zero found it difficult to move, staring back at the empty, soulless eyes that gleamed excitedly back at him.

Their hand dropped from Zero’s hair, watching as the blonde tresses cascaded back down behind him. 

“It would have been so much easier on him had he just listened, you know.”

The last drop of hesitation evaporated in Zero’s system. He lunged forward with a feral growl, his saber slicing through the air and burning through nothing; the figure merely weaved out of the way with a giggle.

“All he had to do was take the chip I gave him, but he didn’t.”

Zero couldn’t even comprehend what this person was saying. None of the words were landing in his mind, just as none of his stabs or swipes were landing on the target. They seemed to be more agile than Zero could keep up with, even without any type of armor enhancing their movement. 

And they seemed amused that Zero was even trying. 

“ _ Hmmhmm _ … His  _ friends  _ were ready to go home, and given his own special circumstances, we assumed he would be, too. I guess he was more stubborn than we thought.”

Zero was quickly degrading into a blind rage, frustrated by his lack of successful hits and enraged by what little he was picking up on. VAVA, still overloaded with unknown signals, was reaching a kneeling position, but he still couldn’t move much more than that.

Zero sped up his assault, weaving back around to attempt an angled hit, the blade missing again and ruining a nearby chair. The scent of burnt wood and molten metal stung at his eyes, but he didn’t react.

His target didn’t seem that distracted, either, easily continuing in their musing.

“The temptation should have been enough… he hasn’t been  _ home _ in so long…”

Just as Zero prepared for another volley, the figure started to walk away, back turned to him, hands linked behind their back. 

“Mmm, but… I guess…” 

They threw a look over their shoulder, eyes wide and manic, and a grin split across their face with an unnatural glee, “...he needed  _ closure _ first.”

With a sudden propulsion of speed, the figure laughed and drew an arm up, forcing down a brutal haymaker across Zero’s face. The resounding  _ CRACK _ filled the room and Zero was sent to the floor from the shock, knocking against the base of the statue in the center of the room.

His eyes fluttered, fighting to focus after the unrepentant assault, vision filled with the vague shadows of the dead above them.

“Haha, surprise you? I might not look like much, but that’s my secret, you see.”

Zero snarled as he rolled to his feet, shaking the last bits of dizziness from his skull. So, this person had to be a Reploid to unleash a punch like that. But from where? 

“But fighting isn’t my favorite, it’s so dirty…”

The Reploid brushed at their arms, mockingly removing imaginary dust. Zero usually wasn’t one to fall for those types of tactics, but something about the way they acted coupled with what they all but admitted to masterminding fueled a renewed vigor in Zero’s systems. He lunged again, like a snake losing a battle to an eagle, saber wildly humming as he brought it down once more with a loud shout.

At least this time, when the figure managed to sidestep, their timing wasn’t as perfect. The blade sliced into the unprotected flesh of their arm, but failed to take the limb entirely. It was a surface wound at best, though blood did trickle freely from the cut, flecking against the expensive-looking rug at their feet.

But rather than retaliate, the Reploid simply turned to walk toward VAVA, who was barely crouched onto the floor, one hand pressed to the side of his helmet.

“Such a sad existence. Wandering the data ether, eeking out a spot in this reality long since claimed by those more welcomed,” they stooped to a crouch in front of VAVA, reaching with their injured arm to touch at his armored chin. Effortlessly, they tilted VAVA’s head up to look into his eyes.

“So many years of displacement. Of bitterness. You just wanted a piece of the past again,” the Reploid smiled cruelly into VAVA’s face, glancing back at Zero briefly, “didn’t you?”

VAVA’s eyes, flickering erratically beneath the darkness of his visor, narrowed. He said nothing.

* * *

**SOME WEEKS EARLIER**

VAVA was a fairly hands-off leader. In the past, he’d only had to worry about himself; even when he was a Hunter, he rarely commanded teams and was often relegated to solo missions or working with Zero. Of course, that changed once X was brought on… At that point, VAVA was pretty much only given suicide missions with equally problematic members of various units. But any thinly veiled plans of getting him killed in action never culminated in anything. VAVA was just too good. Stubbornness and spite were as much an armor to him as the one he wore on his body every day.

So having an entire team that hung on his every word was more harrowing than he’d anticipated, even if they were a slapped together group of convicts and other anti-human Reploids, cast aside from society. There wasn’t a lot to “prove” when most of these people would have been executed if caught. They had nowhere else to go. VAVA was providing  _ some _ semblance of security.

Maybe that was why they allowed him to push them so hard. What other choice did they have? VAVA didn’t think much of it, given he was in the same boat. He had nowhere else to turn, not that he wanted anywhere to belong.

Or so he may have told himself.

Seeing the camaraderie between his mercenaries only instilled a dull sensation of melancholy and distance, different from the daily malaise he trudged through, buried under a thick coat of arrogance and performative gloating. For as roughly as he pushed them, for as uncaring as he was about them as people, his mercenaries seemed content, felt like they belonged somewhere, made friends amongst each other. 

VAVA was just the towering, intimidating captain, steering their jolly ship about on the open seas, someone to respect but dare not engage with otherwise. It made VAVA think back on when he last felt like he belonged, and how bitter it made him feel that it was taken away from him.

It made him wonder why he starved himself of the chance to experience it again.

He was sitting outside their current base, fiddling with a transceiver they’d recovered from some other deserted base out in the desert. Something left behind by a transient group of New Gen rebels. VAVA had heard about the apparent uprising on a few supply runs; humans and other Reploids alike were on edge from the possibility of another riot. VAVA was still a bit under the radar these days, having escaped certain doom on the Orbital Elevator, so he was hesitant to get involved in anything of a larger scope again so soon after the last disaster. 

That is, until a group of unknown New Gens started to make their approach to their base, seemingly unfettered by the intimidating set of guards that patrolled nearby.

“Hey! You there!” Right on cue, one of VAVA’s men took note of the group and immediately laid sights on them. And VAVA didn’t even need to lift a finger. Just how he liked it.

Though, he did lift his head a bit, eyes glancing over the group and sizing them up from where he sat. They were a small group in comparison to his own, maybe consisting of about ten Reploids. Furthermore, they all seemed to be some variety of civilian; hardly any of them wore any kind of armor to speak of and looked positively bewildered by the artillery that was leveled at them. Except for the one in the center, who VAVA assumed to be their leader.

An androgynous Reploid, tall and slender with long, dark hair parted down the middle. They were the least equipped of all of them, having no armor at all and even seemed to be walking barefoot. Most intriguing of all, though, was the fact that they were smiling, unfettered by the show of power. 

VAVA was admittedly intrigued. 

“State your business and affiliation!” VAVA’s guards weren’t distracted, at least, and wasted no time in circling the group with a honed aggression that spoke of how eager they were to keep their spots on the team. 

But despite the entire group of New Gens cowering in fear, their leader didn’t flinch. In fact, they were disturbingly serene, smiling gently at the group of guards, scanning their eyes across them. Looking for something.

Finally, they spoke, their voice a soft and soothing hum that still managed to carry over the various sounds of industry before them in the base. 

“There’s no need for this hostility. We quite plainly come in peace.”

VAVA almost laughed at the bizarre choice of words, but a few of his guards did so for him.

“Haha! Alright, ET, you lost? You got any clue where you’re at right now? Because it’d be in your best interest to turn around and—”

“You’re still afraid, aren’t you?”

The mysterious Reploid interrupted the show of bravado, taking a small but bold step forward. VAVA’s eyes sharpened, expecting his guards to mow them down, but surprisingly, not a single one moved. They just stood stock-still, watching as this strange Reploid approached them without a single care. 

“Don’t be afraid. As I said, we’re here peacefully. We only wish to extend an invitation, if you’ll allow us,” they said softly, still smiling as gently as they had when they first spoke.

“U-uh… wh-what? An invitation for…”

“For a better place, a better existence,” the Reploid smiled, and then, quite assuredly, looked past the circle of guards to pinpoint VAVA beyond the gate. They smiled wider.

“Is that your leader? May I ask to have an audience with him?”

VAVA blinked and sat up straight. His guards all looked back at him simultaneously, clearly uncertain of how to handle the situation further. Figured. He would need to step in and clean up this mess before it began.

With a frustrated sigh, VAVA stood up from his seat, straightening up to his imposing height as he slowly plodded over to the gate, arms crossed at his chest. His cannon was fully prepped, a warning sign to that group, should they be up to something more underhanded than it seemed.

“State your business and then get the hell out of here,” VAVA relayed rather caustically, seemingly bringing a good deal of relief to his guards by being the driving force. At least they could take solace in that.

But the bluster didn’t deter this Reploid. Instead, they chuckled softly and shook their head, their long hair swaying with the movement like fine silk. 

“Come, now… no need to be so abrasive. We’re only here to provide a gift…”

VAVA scoffed. As if that wasn’t the most suspicious thing he’d heard all day.

“What do you take me for? An idiot? We don’t want any gifts from strangers. Get the hell off my property before I change my mind about letting you live.”

Again, the Reploid only smiled. Bold as ever, they reached out and brushed their fingertips against VAVA’s gauntlet, laying their palm to rest there. There was an immediate tension that filled the air. Both VAVA’s guards and this mysterious Reploid’s group collectively froze in place. It didn’t take a genius to deduce that VAVA was not a charitable type, or one that liked being touched by strangers, so the logical conclusion would be a searing heat from that impressive cannon and the scent of burning flesh and component fluid.

But, shocking everyone, VAVA didn’t move. He just stared down at this Reploid, confused.

In fact, one could say that no one there was more shocked in that moment than VAVA himself. But he just couldn’t bring himself to lash out as he normally would. There was something so … off about this person. Not only with how they seemed to lack survival instincts, but in how flippant they were about the danger in general. Almost as if they felt it beneath them.

What’s more, VAVA could feel something emanating off of them. A serenity he couldn’t identify. 

After a crushing silence, the Reploid spoke again.

“Just a few moments of your time, my friend.”

Like the lion and the lamb, no ferocity was imparted. VAVA just glanced between his guards and the group of civilians and nodded his head.

“Five minutes.”


	13. xiii.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to end it all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another "fight" scene and the last flashback section!

Zero watched carefully, uncertain of how to approach. This Reploid was talking an awful lot like it knew who VAVA was… like they knew his history. He supposed it probably wasn’t difficult to find, given how extensive VAVA’s record was, not to mention the bounty for capture and retirement. 

But none of that mattered right now. Zero needed more context.

“Shut up and state what your intentions are. What the hell is all this ‘going home’ crap you’re infecting people with?” 

The Reploid smiled, letting their hand drop from VAVA’s face. VAVA’s head hung down with little resistance, so drained of energy that he was unable to do much else.

“Hm? What do you mean? It’s simple,” they stood up and walked away from VAVA, brushing long hair from their face as they spoke, “It’s what all Reploids like him know from the moment they reach full self awareness: there’s no place for them in this world as anything other than tools for humanity.”

Giving nothing but a brief glance back down at VAVA, the figure kicked him in the ribs, sending VAVA back down to the floor once again. Their violet eyes trained onto Zero and they stepped closer again, the blood from their injured arm pooling around their feet.

“There’s no ‘home’ for them here.”

Zero stalked forward, feeling that anger heat up, the rage flashing in his vision. This person seemed far more aggravating in their arrogance and self-importance than Lumine, and yet carried the same brash confidence he remembered seeing in Sigma, before Sigma completely lost his sense of self entirely.

He didn’t want another charismatic Maverick to catch a foothold so soon. Not while they were still repairing the damage Lumine had caused.

“You lied to those people. You brainwashed them into killing themselves.”

The Reploid laughed openly, their head dipping back to the ceiling. Their long hair wafted from the movement, a gentle brush against the maddening expression they wore. 

“Lied?  _ Lied _ ? Oh, no, no… You’re quite wrong. I told them exactly what I was offering,” their head tilted back down again, eyes narrowing sharply at Zero as he approached, “they were just miserable enough to take the out.”

“No Reploid would opt to kill themselves like that! Are you crazy?!”

This supposed leader shook their head, eyes closing briefly, “You don’t understand. You’re not a New Gen, like we are,” they gestured to VAVA with an open palm. “We _feel_ more in one nanosecond than your obsolete little brain can process in a minute. We _are_ more than the limitations your ancient bodies enforce. We enjoy such a close analogous existence with humanity that we are _better_ than humans. More human than human.”

It was increasingly obvious that this hadn’t been a movement to empower New Gens over humans, not exactly. There was no weaponry provided, no tactics planned, no sieges arranged. It was a farce to lure in those disillusioned New Gens feeling unwanted among their older generation peers and humans alike. And some charismatic lunatic used them all.

Zero felt his hand close into a fist.

“I can liberate them from this husk of a body, you see!” the Reploid’s arms were outstretched once more, a gleeful cackle erupting from its throat. “Beyond the data ether tethered to this earth! Forward into the stars! Eternal energy!” 

“ _ Enough _ .” 

Zero’s voice was rough and unrelenting, his pace filled with purpose. “I don’t want to hear anymore bullshit from that mouth of yours.”

“You say that and yet I don’t feel like you’re really trying to stop me,” the Reploid smirked, shrugging their shoulders, beckoning Zero with its arrogance. 

Zero decided to show them what he felt without any more words to muddy up the experience. With another aggressive snarl, Zero sped toward the Reploid, letting his blade skim across the floor before he dragged it up in an arc, slicing across their chest with a satisfying weight.

The Reploid let out a ragged gasp, but did not collapse from the hit. Instead, they smirked.

“That’s better.”

The retaliation was swift and just as brutal as the last. The Reploid lurched forward recklessly, forcing their palm straight into Zero’s chest. A soft hum of energy collected and dispersed with a great force, enough to knock Zero back down onto the ground again. 

This time, however, the figure wasn’t as careless. As they approached Zero’s fallen body, they didn’t allow for any hint of recovery. With a forceful stomp and a swift kick, they pummeled Zero’s head against the stone ground, sending his vision into a flurry of dark splotches and white sparks. It was more forceful than the fall had been, almost worse than any other kind of blunt trauma he experienced in recent memory.

He couldn’t see straight.

“Haha! See… this is what I mean. You can’t understand, not like me. Not like VAVA,” the Reploid stood over Zero, their blood dripping and speckling his body. “You didn’t even try to help him back then, even though you cared for him, pitied him.” Zero’s eyes, unfocused as they were, still widened at that accusation. 

“H-how… how did you…?”

Apparently, this Reploid didn’t care to give Zero the answers he sought. They raised an arm, revealing a long, thin blade from a compartment in their skin. It was razor sharp and firm enough to slice right through the carpeting beneath them.

“ _ Hmmhmm _ … It doesn’t matter. You don’t understand just how much we experience. But, that’s alright. After all, I’m a merciful prophet,” the figure dragged the blade up from the floor and nudged the dull side against Zero’s cheek. A sinister glee flickered across their face, colored their voice, “I can liberate you, too.”

Raising their arm up, the Reploid drove the blade down into Zero’s arm, eliciting a sharp and ragged yell of pain from him. Blood seeped from the puncture, dripping from the blade as they rose it up again.

“Oh, haha! I missed, didn’t I? Silly me…” again, they rose the blade up, sending it down forcefully, “Let me try  _ again _ !”

This time, it sliced into Zero’s abdomen. 

“Ah, just endure this a little longer! I promise you’ll thank me!”

Up, then down. Again. And again.

And again.

Zero’s body was peppered with punctures as the Reploid panted above him, wild eyes quivering with energy. “Be strong! It’ll be over soon!”

What the Reploid didn’t notice during their impromptu ritual was the shadowed movement behind them, dark and looming. It shifted about unnoticed as the Reploid continued their assault.

“Endure this and you can come home with us! Come home! Come h—”

Their voice was drowned out by a sudden sharp, piercing sound that burst through the room. It was a laser warming up.

Before any hint of reaction could take footing, a concentrated blast ripped through the air, searing into the Reploid’s back before erupting through their chest. Burnt hair and synthetic flesh turned to dust, component fluid and blood evaporated. The Reploid’s body swayed, their eyes still wide with destructive amusement, but their brow knit together in confusion. A lung-shattering gasp ripped through their body as the toppled over to the side of Zero, leaving flecks of blood and ash on his body.

Zero struggled to keep his vision straight, but it was stable enough to determine the source of the blast: VAVA, on shaky legs, had his hand firmly planted on his shoulder cannon, a cloud of smoke trailing from the barrel. He was breathing heavily, but seemed well enough to expend some of that oxygen laughing mockingly at his handiwork. He was up on his feet, albeit slowly, and every step he took towards them grew stronger and stronger still. His strength was returning and he seemed intent on sharing that with this Reploid.

Zero could barely turn his head without sending a flurry of blurred images across his eyes, but he could just about make out the Reploid writhing on the ground. And soon after that, he could see VAVA walking into frame, kneeling down in front of them.

“‘Tch,” VAVA’s voice was roiled with a disgust he’d rarely heard before. Zero could barely make it out, but it seemed as though VAVA was rolling the Reploid onto its back, and then reaching for its neck.

“You should know something about me, Vaciti,” VAVA said in an eerily level voice as his fingers tightened slowly around the Reploid’s neck, “I don’t like being ignored.”

Zero was hazy, fading quickly from a sense of consciousness. He could not muster any form of strength to prevent VAVA from doing what he could hear him doing, but a vague thought entered his mind, suggesting that maybe he wouldn’t have done anything even if he could.

With a shaky breath, Zero let his eyes close, slowly dropping to a state of unconsciousness to the sound of strangulation beside him.

* * *

**SEVERAL YEARS EARLIER**

“Hey, are you comin’ or not?” 

VAVA’s voice was absurdly easy to pick out of a crowd, which had its useful applications… but right now, there wasn’t a crowd. It was just the two of them in a debriefing room, after everyone else had left. Zero was looking over the documents provided, trying to map out the area in his head before they left. 

Not that there was any need to. VAVA already uploaded everything to his utility. 

And he was getting impatient.

“C’mon, what’re you doin’? I told you, I have it all in here,” his finger tapped against his helmet, generating a metallic  _ clink _ that barely lifted over VAVA’s insistent prattling. “Don’t you trust me? I haven’t let you astray yet, right?”

Zero contemplated being silent for another moment, just to get on VAVA’s nerves a little more. Although, it wasn’t like his impatience was without reason. There was always a different, excited air around the both of them right before a partnered mission took off. They worked well together on the field, even if their personalities may have clashed; where Zero could excel at mid-to-close ranged combat, VAVA picked up the difference with his long range skills and highly defensive armor rating. He could withstand a barrage of volleys while Zero swept in to pick off the targets, like a well-oiled machine. They collectively managed to outrank their entire unit, save for Sigma, with their “routed Mavericks” count alone. A perfect duo for getting the job done.

If there was some admitted friction. 

“Zero! Are you listening to me?!” It wasn’t VAVA’s annoyed yelling that got Zero to break character, but rather it was VAVA’s childish stomp of his foot to the carpeted floor that pushed him over the edge. Zero sputtered softly, turning his head to the side to try and hide the fact that he was laughing to himself. Someone as mature and unflappable as Zero surely wouldn’t be finding something like this so amusing… He had an  _ example _ to set.

“Are you  _ laughing _ at me?!” 

Well, there was no turning back now. Zero lifted his head from the file reader he was studying, unable to mask the fact that he was grinning right at VAVA.

“I  _ was _ ,” he said, his voice a playful tone that rarely anyone had the privilege of hearing, “It's just too funny watching how excited you get over these missions. So impatient, too. Makes me wonder if you’re just that pumped to watch me kick your ass or if you really enjoy my company that much.” His lips peeled back to reveal a somewhat knowing grin.

Zero then watched with a mildly sadistic glee as VAVA hesitated, an odd grunt turning into a frustrated growl, finally fading off into an annoyed grumbling. He turned away from Zero, sulking as he stepped to the side and leaned against a nearby wall, saying nothing more. There, much better. He was quiet.

That being said, there was nothing more that Zero could study up on and delaying any further would negatively impact their success in this mission. Antagonizing someone like VAVA just wasn’t worth the dent in his metrics, no matter how satisfying it felt to watch that demanding facade crumple.

“Alright, alright, c’mon,” Zero conceded, moving from the table to head toward the door. VAVA, whose arms had crossed defiantly over his chest, pushed from the wall he leaned against with a relieved sigh. “ _ Finally _ ! C’mon, we’re gonna lag behind. I’m  _ not _ letting you fuck up my metrics!”

Zero waved his hand about dismissively, but this time, there was no bickering or antagonizing to be had as they walked down the hallway towards the departure bay. It was just two elite Hunters, prized combatants and ruthless exterminators, moving in sync through the base. Other Hunters parted like ocean waves as they approached, looking on with envy, admiration, or perhaps a mixture of the two. There was no pair more in tune with each other’s style than VAVA and Zero in that entire base.

They were going to keep it that way.

“So, what formation did you decide on?” VAVA asked as they approached the bay, tapping his utility to life, paging through maps to sync on the correct point. 

Zero, still riding high on the amount of amusement he’d gotten out of bothering VAVA, sauntered up to him, hand on his hip. He was trying not to laugh, yet again. VAVA didn’t seem to get the joke, his red eyes glowing sharply. 

“What,” VAVA gritted out, hand hovering over his gauntlet where the virtual interface was projected. Zero shook his head, chuckling as he reached over, swiping his hand across the screen, and subsequently, across VAVA’s arm until it landed on a predetermined route in the files.

“That one,” he supplied with a grin, walking off just as casually as he’d approached. VAVA stood in place, stock still, uncertain of how to react.

Zero really was in a good mood today. Too bad it was at his own expense.

“You should know why, anyway,” VAVA snarled in response to Zero’s earlier musing, though there was a distinct lack of threat behind his tone. Zero knew that all too well, throwing a confident look over his shoulder as they initiated the transport jump.

And as the transport initiated its routine, red light flickering over his body and his long blonde hair, and Zero grinned.

“Yeah, I know. And for the record,” Zero turned away, letting his eyes close as they initiated the jump with a mechanical whirr. His voice was softer, perhaps intentionally so as no one else could overhear it.

“Of course I trust you.”


	14. xiv.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zero wakes up to find himself outside again. It's time to try and piece everything together. He can't let VAVA's behavior slide any longer.

Zero’s head felt like it was splitting apart. He’d incurred many,  _ many _ injuries during his tenure as a Maverick Hunter, but somehow, that kick he’d gotten rattled him in a major way. Major enough that his programming shut down in an effort to protect him from further damage. The built-in diagnostics had completed and Zero’s vision was flickering back to life, the scrolling pages of statistics from his BIOS quickly shifting from view.

It would have been nice if he was more prepared for it, though. His eyes squinted from the sudden flooding of light, as dim as it was. The sun was rising. 

Zero was slowly coming around, flexing his fingers against the soft dirt and grass of the forest floor. Grass… So, he wasn’t buried in a cave, then. Though he supposed the sunlight was evidence enough of that. Still, it was a good sign. He sat up slowly, pressing a hand to his head, and tried to refocus on his surroundings. What was the last thing that had happened…?

Flashes of a face, wild eyes. The scent of blood and component fluid. Burning hair and skin. VAVA’s pained screams.

VAVA’s hands around a neck. Squeezing.

Smoke.

“So, sleeping beauty’s finally awake?” 

A voice cut through Zero’s attempts to piece things together and for once, it didn’t cause an overwhelming sensation of annoyance or anger. 

It was a sense of relief. 

Zero looked up from his spot on the ground, catching sight of VAVA sitting on what looked to be a half-leveled tree trunk, rusted metal protruding from the bark. VAVA looked no worse for wear, if a bit dusty, maybe. Come to think of it, Zero really didn’t assess his own injuries.

Looking down at the puncture holes in his undersuit, he realized the sensitive skin underneath was patched, at least partially. Zero blinked, ignoring how the rest of his armor was still peppered with blood and dirt, and finally opened his mouth to speak.

“Did you do this?” he gestured to himself and VAVA almost looked offended.

“What? Did he really kick you that hard? I didn’t do that,” VAVA stood up on top of the tree trunk, hands on his hips as he looked down at Zero. “He was punching holes in you with that little rapier thing he had. Like he was really into it.” For good measure, VAVA made a few movements with his hand, mimicking the movement. 

Zero didn’t appreciate the extra illustrative details he was providing. He frowned.

“No, you idiot, I meant…” Well…actually, was there any point in asking? It was… kind of embarrassing to bring up, really, and he was certain VAVA wouldn’t have admitted to doing what he suspected he’d done, anyway. Zero let out an exasperated sigh. “Nevermind, that’s not important.”

He stood up from the ground as VAVA looked on, still perched on his post like the peacock he was. Ever vibrant and obnoxious, demanding attention.

Zero had a lot more things to ask him, things of greater value, before he lost his window of opportunity. Brushing himself free of the dirt and dust, grimacing at the still damp blood and component fluid that flecked his armor, he glared up at VAVA, annoyed.

“First of all, get down here so I can talk to you like a normal person,” he griped, and VAVA laughed loudly in reply. Louder than Zero was prepared for, actually, as it rattled his eardrums and tightened the vise that still steadily squeezed at his skull. 

Luckily, VAVA actually complied, effortlessly sliding to the ground with a loud, heavy  _ THUD _ before lazily striding closer. 

“I thought you said ‘us Mavericks’ are all weird. How can you possibly expect to talk to me like a normal person?” VAVA seemed fairly proud of that quip, but Zero’s expression didn’t falter. He looked critical, almost wary of VAVA as he approached, and so VAVA slowed his step until he stood several feet away. “What? You gonna reprimand me or something?” VAVA, ever the defensive one, cocked his head to the side as if challenging Zero to try and do something. Try to turn this back into what he knew it would have to return to.

Two apex predators, at each other’s throats.

“Or…”

VAVA slowly stalked closer, his almost sarcastic nature melting into an aggressive timbre, stopping just short of Zero’s personal space.

“...you wanna slice my head off?”

The silence that followed wasn’t as long as VAVA might have been expecting.

“Stop.”

Zero wasn’t engaging. His voice, reminiscent of the commanding air VAVA had grown to hate when he was still on the 17th, was not wavering from supporting that implication a single word had fostered.

Zero instead walked to the side, crossing his arms over his chest. He didn’t know where to start and VAVA looked as lost as ever. So, it was probably better to just rip the bandage off.

“What the hell was that back there?” Zero asked, his voice quiet but firm, keeping his back turned to VAVA as he stood in place. VAVA hesitated. 

“It… what do you mean? It was some crazy New Gen fanatic that—”

“No, I’m not talking about that,” Zero spat with some force, yet he still relented on turning around to look at him. He was still getting his thoughts together, still trying to match everything up. It was strange, the whole trip had been strange. VAVA’s behavior was probably the oddest part of it all, despite the downright disturbing evidence they found of this supposed cult.

“That Reploid was talking like it knew you. It was… saying those things.”

Zero felt he didn’t need to elaborate on what “things” he was referring to. And for once, VAVA didn’t play coy. He seemed confused, stalling out on how to reply. He put his hands on his hips again and turned his gaze down to the dirt.

“I don’t know, it was the first time I ever met it,” VAVA muttered, to which Zero finally turned around, eyes sharp on VAVA. 

“Bullshit. Some of the things it was saying, there was no way it would have known that unless  _ you _ told it.”

VAVA continued to stare at the ground, digging against the dirt with the heel of his boot. A laugh suddenly cut through the silence, but it was mirthless, heavy.

Zero didn’t like the sound of it.

“Don’t laugh, this is serious,” he chided, though he already knew that VAVA wasn’t taking pleasure in this conversation. 

The laughter, empty and unfeeling, trailed off in VAVA’s chest before dissipating entirely. “I don’t know what to tell you. It’s just as simple as a New Gen targeting another New Gen for its crazy cult plans. You can’t tell me that it’s not plausible based on the other shit we’ve seen today.”

A humid wind dragged across the field where they stood. Dewdrops glistened against the dying foliage as the sun began to climb higher in the sky, bit by bit. It cast VAVA in a hauntingly warm glow, a dissonance that almost made Zero laugh.

But there was too much left to dissect. He stepped closer again, crushing twigs and grass underfoot. 

“I don’t buy that,” he began, snapping further before VAVA could so much as sigh in frustration, “I don’t buy a lot of what’s been going on today.”

For once, VAVA was the one to sound totally incredulous, “What?? Are you crazy, did you  _ not _ see all that fucking evidence?” He swiped his arm out behind them, where the hidden cavern lay.

Zero shook his head, “Not about that. About  _ you _ .”

VAVA’s anger faltered. Zero took the opening and continued to press further.

“You’re acting weird. Your personality is… it’s different. You’re not flying off the handle right now for me shouting at you, you’re actually  _ working with me _ , and hell, you deliberately saved my ass  _ three times _ today!” That part had been difficult to put a voice to, with Zero inwardly cringing at how poorly he performed on this mission in retrospect. “You’re being really suspicious and I haven’t been able to put my finger on what could possibly be inspiring this behavior in you. But once that Reploid said that shit…” he still didn’t want to repeat it. Zero sighed, shaking his head, “VAVA, what the hell is this all about? What happened to you?   
  


Zero stepped closer, his hands clenching into tight fists, “Give me a reason to believe you.”

VAVA looked up, catching the glimpse of uncertainty in Zero’s eyes. It was a familiar sight, but not exactly a welcome one. A hollow exhale rattled his chest. It was abundantly clear he didn’t want to broach this topic and yet he wasn’t flying off into the forest. At any point during this entire mission, VAVA had the resources to bail and leave Zero on his own. But he didn’t.

And he wasn’t going to.

His boots clipped across the ground, but he didn’t venture far. Zero simply turned to follow him with his eyes, waiting.

“Fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

VAVA didn’t sound pleased that he had been bullied into this interrogation. It was obvious that he wasn’t prepared for this, still didn’t have his own thoughts fully in order. For that reason, Zero elected to employ the least bit of patience he could muster, waiting for VAVA to start explaining.

“First of all, you’re right, I lied. That wasn’t the first time I’ve seen that guy,” VAVA’s arms crossed over his chest and he sighed briskly. “Remember how I mentioned that my group found those chips in an abandoned base? That’s not exactly true.”

Zero felt himself bristle, the hints of anger he had been so desperate to conceal forcing their way to the surface. VAVA seemed to notice this, but he didn’t leave it at that.

“That guy, he came to my base. I don’t know how he found us, but he walked up to our gate like he owned the place. He was lucky that him and his little entourage weren’t incinerated on sight.”

A brisk wind carried the faint scent of smoke and oil. Zero scowled.

“So, why didn’t you?”

VAVA rolled his shoulders. There was no explanation satisfying enough to provide, so he went with what he had: uncertainty. “Dunno. He had that way about him. Most of the on-duty guard staff that day were New Gens, so maybe that had something to do with it. He had this… way of enforcing a weird sense of calmness around everything. As much as I wanted to blast a hole in his head, I just couldn’t do it.”

That bit of information startled Zero more than he wanted to admit. For all the years he’d known VAVA, there had not been one singular method that was able to reliably prevent him from acting out in anger if something pushed the wrong buttons. The thought that a singular Reploid had that much power was terrifying to consider. 

Given that Zero hadn’t interjected, VAVA continued on, “So how I mentioned that we ‘found’ those chips? Well, that guy, Vaciti, hand-delivered them to us. He said they were a ‘gift’ and that he didn’t want anything in exchange. He didn’t really tell us much other than that they’d show is a ‘new way of seeing the world’ and that once we viewed the contents of the chip, we’d be able to ‘join them on their journey to a new home.’”

Zero grimaced. “So… when you said that your men used the chips…”

VAVA was silent for a long moment. “Yeah. They had reason enough to be curious about it, I guess,” he laughed mirthlessly, “I’m not a therapist so it’s not like I can fix all their issues. They’ve gotta make their own way.”

A rather morose statement from someone as antisocial as VAVA. Zero swallowed back a lump that had formed in his throat. This was only solidifying his strange observations, if what VAVA was saying was true. And right now, Zero really didn’t have a reason to call him a liar. 

“So then, how does that relate to the rest of it?” Zero questioned, quickly amending it with a swift, “You… doing all that stuff for me, I mean.”

It seemed like VAVA was hoping that Zero would have dropped that part of the concern. His shoulders slumped slightly and he started pacing. Once again, he was displaying emotions and body language that Zero hadn’t seen in him before and it was both alarming and intriguing. 

It took VAVA a long handful of minutes to compose himself, which Zero allowed without pressing. After all, this was a rarity in and of itself; he wasn’t going to push his luck by trying to rush VAVA through it.

“I’m not sure if you’ll understand this, considering your unique circumstances,” VAVA began, a snide, yet still somehow inoffensive tone putting an edge on his words, “but every time my body is modified in some way, my programming needs to adapt. When I was put in this New Gen body, it was no different. I had to readjust.”

VAVA looked down at his hand, making a fist and relaxing his hand again. “Except this time around, my programming was… supplemented by something. Ingrained handling software that all New Gens are born with. Except I wasn’t born a New Gen.”

He looked over at Zero, who was patiently waiting, arms crossed against his chest. VAVA exhaled an amused chuckle.

“So… I started feeling different. It’s not a secret that I was made defective, right?” he laughed again, just as mirthless as the last time, “Came off the compiler with a messed up cortex. I’m not stupid. I’ve known. But something in the handling software is…” 

Zero grimaced. He wasn’t so sure that this was a conversation he wanted to have, now that they were actually having it. It was bringing a great deal of long-since-buried feelings and thoughts that he’d all but eliminated in his mind. He’d moved on. He had been sure of it.

This was making him realize that maybe not all of him had come to terms with the past. But he didn’t interrupt VAVA.

“...It’s filling in blanks, I guess is the best way to say it. It’s taking my thoughts and my memories, recontextualizing them. Making everything fit into a perfect little slot, not just left to run roughshod all over the place.”

VAVA fell silent for a moment, turning to face Zero. He started to walk towards him again, but stopped short of being within reach. 

“I guess that being here with you, working with you like this, it was…” the tension in the air was choking, but as much as Zero wanted VAVA to stop talking, there was no closing those floodgates now. “I don’t know. It reminded me of being a Hunter again. I don’t really understand it, since it’s not like I look back on those days fondly.”

Zero’s chest tightened. He said nothing. Whatever he expected to hear wasn’t found. He looked down.

“Hm, but… at any rate,” VAVA shrugged his shoulders, his best attempt at trying to reroute this conversation back on a relevant track. “That Reploid interfered with my scan and that’s what started that little fit I was having. I think it was some kind of signal only New Gens can pick up, the same shit he used at my base on me and my men.”

There was relief to be found in the redirection, though Zero wasn’t so sure he even cared to know the answer to those questions he’d asked any longer. He huffed, unable to do much of anything but move along with it, “So, what was it showing you? Just static?”

“No,” VAVA shook his head. “It was imagery, if kind of jumbled and erratic. Mostly things about ‘leaving this existence’ and the like. All that culty shit they were spouting.”

That… was troubling. That a single Reploid had figured out something like that and weaponized it… 

Zero looked up at the dawn sky, the melding of pink to purple to blue. 

“So, after all of that, did it sound convincing?”

It was a morbid question, but Zero was feeling morbid enough to ask it. There was enough precedent to ask, anyway. VAVA had clearly struggled during that encounter and, if Vaciti had truly invaded his innermost thoughts, there was perhaps some merit behind it all. VAVA  _ had _ been drifting for many years, a rogue program that somehow refused to die. If he truly felt exhausted of existing…

“Not at all,” VAVA’s voice came through those troubling thoughts, clear as the daylight that was slowly crawling its way across the forest floor, between the faded leaves. He looked at Zero, a smirk clearly audible as he continued, “do you really think you’d be rid of me that easily?”

Zero blinked, a bit taken aback, but ultimately… relieved. He didn’t know why. VAVA wasn’t a comrade, far from it. He was a wanted criminal, a murderer, someone who was violent and unpredictable, unrepentant of the crimes he’d committed and continued to commit. 

So why did Zero smile?

It wasn’t hard to figure out, not once he heard VAVA’s voice smoothed against the grain of his errant thoughts. There was a lot to consider, if what VAVA was saying was actually true. Could a New Gen body actually be so powerful as to repair corrupt coding in a Reploid’s cortex? Zero wasn’t sure and he didn’t know of anyone who could give him the answer. But even without a concrete “yes” or “no,” VAVA’s behavior was evidence enough. He was a good enough actor, he had the advantage of hiding his face with every interaction he engaged with, but not so good as to being entirely deceptive in his body language and voice.

Zero felt the shift, remembered the bond, that fleeting time where they could work together and complete a mission, then still make cracks at each other like it was nothing. Zero rarely enjoyed any camaraderie that came close to that brief period of time he shared with VAVA, before X entered their ranks. Before the jealousy rotted their connection, eroding it into dust. 

Jealousy… 

An unspoken yearning for what they couldn’t have anymore. 

But, with this new information, Zero wondered if it was all so futile as he felt it to be. VAVA’s actions were marred with the shadow of his rampancy, but Zero was no fool. There were glimpses between the cracks in his facade. The hesitation, the protectiveness. 

The shared understanding, still kept warm by the flecks of embers yet to be snuffed entirely.

Zero breathed out a soft laugh, letting his eyes close.

“I didn’t think so, but I had to ask.”


	15. xv.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tying off the rest of the ends isn't as easy as it sounds.
> 
> It was time to part.

Once that had been sorted out, all that was left were the odds and ends. Zero had finally gotten back to feeling somewhat more himself and VAVA looked just as antsy as ever to get going. But before they could leave this place behind them, Zero had to make sure of a few things.

“VAVA,” he started, looking over at him, bent down and calibrating a function in his gauntlet that had gotten out of sync. All VAVA did was grunt in response, not bothering to lift his head to glance in Zero’s direction. Good enough.

“What about that hidden base? Or Vaciti? What happened with that?”

VAVA took his time in offering up an answer, seemingly so unconcerned with the result that he felt it beneath him to interrupt himself with it. But perhaps he had started to feel that bit of uneasiness that came along with Zero glaring daggers at him, each passing second more caustic than the last. Breathing out an annoyed sigh, he stood up and lifted his arm, pointing off into the distance behind them.

“See that?” 

Zero followed the direction of VAVA’s extended index finger, his eyes catching on to a dark, billowing cloud that contributed to that strange smell he’d noticed earlier. Smoke. Judging by the size of it, it wasn’t a massive fire, probably not large enough to leave the depths of the caverns and would likely suffocate itself from the moisture and lack of oxygen combined. The tendrils of haze clawed up into the dawn sky, only to be smeared into nothing once the breeze circulated around again.

He should have snapped at him. How could he be so reckless as to destroy all that evidence? There may have been survivors somewhere in there, too! And if that New Gen was still alive, what gave VAVA the authority to be judge, jury, and executioner over them? He’d strangled them, Zero knew that much, but he also knew VAVA to be thorough. He wouldn’t have left them there if they were still alive.

But Zero didn’t snap at him. He simply stared at the dark cloud for a few more moments and then sighed deeply. He turned his back to it and started to walk back toward the edge of the forest.

VAVA didn’t like the silence or lack of reaction, apparently. He was following after Zero at a measured pace, hanging back just enough to be cautious. 

“What? That’s it? You’re not gonna bite my head off for burning the place up?”

Zero simply shook his head. He had no energy to argue.

“It’s probably what they all wanted, anyway.”

VAVA was taken aback, Zero could tell by the way his boots skidded in the dirt, how there was hesitation in his step as he lingered behind. 

But it wasn’t enough to prevent him from laughing.

“Haha, I’m not so sure. But I guess it doesn’t matter. There’s nothing we could have done,” VAVA came up alongside Zero before long, letting his arms cross against his chest as he met his stride. “I had to eliminate any trace of that damn chip. And incinerating the place was the quickest way.”

Zero didn’t respond, not with words, but he didn’t need to. His lack of response was his compliance with VAVA’s actions, as content as he could be with how things unfolded. He wasn’t sure if there really  _ was _ any other option, had it been himself and X on this mission instead.

That was what made it all the more difficult to look at VAVA as they walked into the forest, leaving the clearing and the caves behind them.

* * *

The rest of the walk was quiet. There really wasn’t much left to talk about, given that most remaining evidence was burned and smoldering in the distance, most likely never to be sifted through. Zero wasn’t exactly happy with that outcome, but things went off the rails, as most things did whenever VAVA was involved. At least this time, he couldn’t place blame solely on him.

What he could do, though, was reflect on their time together. It was a dangerous risk he took, trusting VAVA to provide the Hunters with something they could actually use. If someone had told him a month ago that he would be doing something like this, he wouldn’t have believed them. Zero had thought that he’d been pretty firmly set in his ways, unbending on what he considered his duty as a Hunter and what that meant for the way he regarded his former comrades. 

VAVA was a bit different, though. VAVA wasn’t just a squadmate that tagged along on some missions. He wasn’t a commander for a different unit, he wasn’t someone who worked in the background, he wasn’t a support member. He was his direct teammate, someone he worked together with very closely. Someone he, for a brief time, trusted to have his back. And Zero hadn’t been disingenuous when he returned the sentiment. He would have protected VAVA back then, just as he would have for any of his other squadmates.

Maybe even more.

No, Zero knew that for that time, it  _ was _ more than that. They would have done anything to complete a mission and both come back unscathed. How they both looked forward to being on the field together.

How they indulged in each other’s presence by way of their synocrity, how deeply they could predict the other’s movements in battle and compliment them.

And why it felt so much heavier to be near him like this, after Zero had unearthed that feeling of guilt he hadn’t realized he’d buried in an unmarked grave in his heart. 

Could he have done more to stop VAVA from rebelling? Maybe. But would it have mattered? VAVA’s jealousy ran deep, deeper than what Zero could have written off as rational and understandable. Getting uppity and grouchy for having less time to spend with him was reasonable, but VAVA crossed that line faster than Zero could have anticipated. It hadn’t just been jealousy. It was bordering on possessive. 

While he had no shortage of fans and admirers, no one had regarded him with such a desperate sense of desire before or since. Maybe it was sick of him to miss it.

Zero’s thoughts rattled loose when a particularly thick branch snapped under VAVA’s foot. The  _ CRACK _ of wood and metal echoed through the forest, rousing whatever birdlife had still been resting before the sun fully rose. Zero’s eyes refocused on VAVA for a moment.

He breathed out a soft chuckle, finding himself smiling thoughtfully.

“Y’know, it was kind of interesting working together like that again,” Zero mused, stretching his arms out in front of him as he walked. VAVA cocked his head to the side, giving Zero a sidelong glance.

“Hah! ‘Interesting,’ huh?”

Zero nodded, “Yeah. I forgot how useful you can be when you’re actually focused on something that matters.”

VAVA laughed, rolling his shoulders dismissively, “That right? I guess it was kinda nostalgic having to cover your ass rather than beat it.”

This time, rather than scowl or roll his eyes, Zero chuckled. 

“Nostalgic? I didn’t think you could feel nostalgic over anything.”

VAVA fell silent, thoughtful. He tilted his head up, looking toward the clouds above. 

“Yeah, I didn’t think so, either.”

Zero hummed, turning to look ahead. There was so much about VAVA he was still learning, and it seemed that VAVA himself was still trying to figure it out, himself. If that was the case, then maybe—

“—!”

A shrill beeping sound erupted from the communicator on Zero’s wrist. Stopping in place, he looked down at the screen, checking the call source.

It was Signas.

Zero hesitated. Shit. He hadn’t actually formulated an explanation to him yet. Come to think of it, he hadn’t actually checked in at all with the base the entire time he was gone… He had been so preoccupied, it hadn’t actually crossed his mind. How could he explain himself? And furthermore, Signas was expecting Zero to have put VAVA down by now. How could he explain that VAVA was not only still alive, but casually walking alongside him? And not only  _ that _ , but VAVA could overhear something he wasn’t supposed to and—

“Guess that’s my cue, huh?”

Zero blinked, the shrill beeping persisting as VAVA stopped in front of him, clapping Zero on the shoulder with a broad palm.

The same way he always had before, which only made Zero’s heart jump and chest tighten.

“Don’t wanna interrupt your little talk with the ol’ ball and chain.” Zero could practically hear the self-satisfied smirk on VAVA’s lips, but he also didn’t miss that small twinge of disappointment. 

Zero hesitated. He looked down at the communicator, then back up at VAVA.

This was it, then. This was the last time he’d have this kind of excuse to be around VAVA in a semi-friendly manner. There was so much he’d just uncovered in a night’s time and there wasn’t going to be a chance to get any answers, any closure. 

_ Five more minutes.  _

Zero felt his chest tighten even further when he realized that very real desire had solidified in him. Just  _ five more minutes _ like this, so he could pretend, put off coming to terms with the fact that he couldn’t indulge like this again. _ Five more minutes _ that he could spend ignoring the fact that he felt this was something worth indulging over at all. _ Five more minutes _ being annoyed with that stupid laugh, that smirk he couldn’t see, the overly confident swagger that tried to engulf everything around them. 

Zero couldn’t think of anything to say. For a brief, gratifying moment, VAVA’s hand lingered, his fingers squeezed.

Then he stepped back, swiftly placing that barbed wire barrier right back between them, where it belonged. 

“Well, it’s been real fun, Princess. Sorry you’re not gonna have much to bring home to mom, considering I burned it all.”

VAVA let out a laugh that felt heavier than before, forcefully brought out from his chest as his jetpack ignited, pulling him upward. Zero couldn’t even utter a single word as VAVA peeled out of the area, ripping past the mottled canopy, leaving nothing but the smell of ozone in his wake.


	16. xvi.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's not over til it's over.

_ pipipipipipipipi _

Right. Reality wasn’t going to sit back and wait for Zero to be ready to deal with it. He grimaced, cursing to himself softly. He had to come up with something.

...He’d improvise. If anything, he was good at talking his way in and out of situations as the need arose.

With a swift inhale, he silenced the incessant beeping, then opened the channel for audio.

“Zero here.”

There was a pause, as if Signas didn’t actually think he’d be patched through. It was a brief enough pause that Zero was grateful for it, as it gave him that much more time to formulate his story.

But Signas’s voice was hard to ignore. It was stiff, icy, but poorly concealing the concern he was harboring.

“ _ I have been  _ waiting  _ for you to provide a progress report for hours, Zero. What happened? We were beginning to think VAVA kidnapped you or worse. _ ”

Zero almost wanted to laugh at that. In fact, he couldn’t prevent a clipped exhale of a chuckle from leaving his lips.

“Really? You’ve gotta have more faith in me than that, Commander.”

Signas clearly wasn’t in a joking mood.

“ _ Provide a status. Now. What’s going on? Where’s VAVA? _ ”

Right. Back to business. This, Zero could do, so long as it was broken apart into pieces.

“Sorry, sir. I didn’t have a chance to make contact with you sooner. VAVA’s not with me.”

The delay on the line wasn’t from a lack of signal, that much Zero knew. Signas’s voice, more tempered than before, gave that much away.

“ _...did you deactivate him successfully? _ ”

Zero felt that tightness in his chest yet again, but he kept himself just as measured as always.

“Negative. He retreated before I was given the opportunity. You know how he is.”

Signas sighed, “ _ And the intel? What happened with that? _ ”

This was the part that Zero didn’t know how to answer. On one hand, VAVA’s intel  _ had  _ been a bit faulty, but on the other, it  _ did _ lead them right into a rogue Reploid’s secret base. But even so, VAVA had destroyed any traces of it, anyway… How could he explain that to Signas?

“It wasn’t very reliable,” Zero supplied after a moment of struggling. He’d have to go into it more later. “I’ll have a full report of the incident when I return to the base.”

Luckily for him, Signas seemed to take that as an adequate response for now.

“ _ Good. I want that report done before 13:00 today. _ ” There was a brief pause, “ _ It really was a mistake trusting him… _ ”

Zero didn’t respond to that. There was no point. All he could do was acknowledge the instructions provided and end the transmission. Signas was none the wiser of the internal struggling Zero was wrestling with. None of them would be, if Zero could help it. 

He sighed deeply, tilting his head up to the sky, looking through the torn foliage that VAVA had destroyed on his way out. His eyes narrowed.

Before he could rearrange his thoughts, another set of shrill beeps assaulted his ears, yanking his attention back down to his communicator. A message was flashing across the HUD from a sender ID he didn’t recognize.

“What now…” Zero cautiously opened it, grimacing as he anticipated some sort of prank or spam message.

It was neither, at least not at its core.

> “ _ Hey there. I figure I could pay you for the time we had together. Just a little token of my gratitude for not trying to incinerate me on first chance. I had a feeling your handlers were gonna try and coax you into it. Good job resisting temptation! _
> 
> _ Oh, I also attached some details I found before I annihilated that base. Photos, documents, some other weird shit… And some serial numbers of the dead civvies. I figure someone might want them. _
> 
> _ No need to thank me. Seriously. I have a feeling your idea of ‘thanks’ will include sharp, pointy objects.  _
> 
> _ Though, I gotta admit, I am curious about what it was you'd wanted to say to me back then, on that day. Another unsolved mystery, I'd imagine.  _
> 
> _ Stay frosty, you ice queen. _
> 
> _ VAVA _ ”

Attached to the message was, as promised, a large file folder filled with documentation and photos of the facility, all seemingly taken with an integrated camera. VAVA must have been documenting everything they found with his optical peripherals…

But perhaps more alarming was the attachment of a wired transfer. A huge sum of Zenny directly deposited to Zero’s credits account. 

Upon further inspection, it was the exact amount Signas had deposited into VAVA’s account at the start of all this.

Zero stared at the message, read it again, over and over. He could practically hear VAVA’s voice as his eyes moved over every word. 

He had no idea how to handle any of it. In fact, it really only made his job  _ more _ difficult. How the hell was he supposed to explain  _ this _ to Signas?!

Even so, the added headache didn’t seem to outweigh that strange sense of longing and confusion that circled around Zero’s head like a typhoon. Things he had yet to uncover. Things he still wanted to mend, no matter how foolishly. 

He laughed. It figured. This was just his luck, after all.

“Alright. Fine,” he muttered to himself as he exited his utility and started off toward the entrance to the forest. “You wanna play this game, you’re on.”

* * *

Deep, deep in the forest, where the most overgrown and wilted plants reclaimed the lands, one could find VAVA sitting on a moss-covered stone. His leg was crossed over his lap and his hand was in a loose fist. The sun sliced through the gaps between the leaves and tree trunks, igniting a shimmering sheen across VAVA’s chest, flecks of silver spotted among grey. 

Birds sang. 

VAVA breathed out deeply, air he’d been holding in for longer than he wanted to admit. He looked down at his closed fist, turning his wrist over. Fingers relaxed, peeling back to reveal a small, familiar-looking chip. Its green, iridescent sheen caught every stray bit of light, reflecting back at VAVA's eyes, tempting. 

He stared down at it for a long time. Considering, weighing options.

But then…

_ pipipipi _

VAVA looked to his left arm where his communicator utility lit up like a Christmas tree. A message? Who the hell was sending him a message? His mercenaries knew better than to bother him while he was on a mission.

Irritated, he swiped it open. There was a single message from a rather familiar ID.

> “ _ I never knew you could be so sweet. Are you sure you didn’t suffer a concussion on the way down that drop in the cave? Maybe it actually did you some good, though I'm sure your team is gonna be hurting for that cash soon. Too bad knocking your head around didn’t affect your ability to talk, though. It would have been nice to have a bit of a break from your nonsense.  _
> 
> _ Anyway, don’t think I’m done with you yet. Maybe I'll even humor you a little more.  _
> 
> _ Just wait. You’ll know. _
> 
> _ Z _ ”

VAVA blinked, his red eyes flickering as he read the message over again. His chest ached, his stomach flipped. 

He laughed. So this was how it was gonna be...

Looking back down at the small chip in his hand, VAVA closed his fingers around it, forming a fist yet again. This time, though, he didn’t stop tightening it until the material bent and split, ground into unusable dust. He let it fall to the forest floor to be reclaimed by the rest of the plantlife.

“Nah. Not today.”

_ end. _


End file.
